At a second after midnight this morning, Dale Getto and Barbara Laven became New York State’s first legally wed gay couple when they were married by Mayor Gerald D. Jennings in Albany. At around the same time Kitty Lambert and Cheryl Rudd were wed at the base of Niagara Falls.

“This is an amazing moment,” Lambert told reporters. “We’re achieving that real American Dream to be treated like everybody else and be protected under all those laws.”

Throughout the day gay and lesbian couples will be tying the not all over the state, including Gracie Mansion, where NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg will wed consumer affairs commissioner, Jonathan Mintz and chief policy adviser John Feinblatt. The eager involvement of political and community leaders on every level has made this day all the more sweet.

Keep checking back for more of Queerty’s coverage of New York gay-wedding celebrations.

Image by Jeffrey James Keyes