TOO MANY HAPPY COUPLES: NYC To Hold Lottery To Get Gay-Married On First Day

New York City officials today announced a "marriage lottery" to deal with the high numbers of gay couples looking to tie the knot on the first day of legalized same-sex marriage.

Fearing demand for same-sex weddings will be too great for the City Clerk’s Office to handle this Sunday, city officials have announced a lottery for weddings on the first day that gay couples can legally wed in the state. Officials said couples could be stuck waiting in long lines all day and, though the city has added extra clerks for Sunday, ultimately would not be able to get married because of the high volume. The lottery will guarantee 764 couples – either opposite- or same-sex — access to marry at one of the City Clerk’s five offices Sunday. The 764 couples to marry would be the largest number of marriages on any single day in city history.

NYC has received over 2500 online marriage applications since the day of the historic vote. Hit the link to learn how to enroll for the first day lottery. What a wonderful problem to have!

UPDATE: The Human Rights Campaign comments.

"The record breaking number of couples registering to marry shows how popular--and right-- passing marriage equality was. The lottery is a good compromise. Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn took this great problem to have and came up with a good solution. There will be a lot of love at the City Clerk's Office on Sunday. Every lawmaker, Democrat and Republican, should take heart that New York families are all the stronger."