New York Marriage Lottery

The state of New York instituted a lottery for same sex couples wanting to obtain marriage licenses and/or wanting to get married on Sunday, the the day the state’s Marriage Equality Act took effect. Since the state’s online application’s phrasing changed from “Groom and Bride” to “Spouse A and Spouse B,” over 2,600 same sex couples requested licenses from the New York city clerk’s office. The lottery created 764 slots for couples.

See Steve Kastenbaum and Craig Johnson, Hundreds of same-sex couples win New York marriage lottery, CNN Jul. 24, 2011.