A Year of Marriage Equality in New York

Yesterday was the first anniversary of the dawn of legal same-sex marriage in New York state. Many and New York City share that anniversary.

New York's political leaders, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Comptroller John Liu spent the day trumpeting the benefits of allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry.

Liu's office released a statement revealing that the city of New York had seen an economic windfall of more than $250 million dollars.

For Bloomberg, same-sex marriage's kick-starting effect on the economy was easy to trace. 

"Since the Marriage Equality Act went into effect on July 24, 2011, 67 percent of same-sex couples held wedding receptions at restaurants, homes, hotels or catering halls in the five boroughs, with 296,500 guests and 201,600 of them traveling from outside of the city," Bloomberg said.

A year ago in downtown Manhattan the scene was one of

So how has the last year impacted you? Are your opinions on same-sex marriage the same as they were last summer? Different? A little of both? 

Let us know what you think in the comments below.