News

A Fairytale Wedding For NY's First Gay Congressman

by Abby Johnston

This weekend, New York Rep. Sean Maloney and longtime partner Randy Florke got married. Maloney is New York's first openly gay congressman, and only the second active U.S. politician to marry a same-sex partner. The couple has been together for a whopping 22 years, and have three children between the ages of 11 and 24. And if the three cheers for humanity aren't enough, wait until you drool over what an absolutely perfect couple they are.

The NY Democrat exchanged vows with Florke, a real estate and design executive, in Cold Spring on Saturday, almost three years after the state of New York legalized gay marriage.

Okay, so the new nuclear family is already a refreshing picture, but wait until you hear this: Florke proposed to Maloney after two decades together when their youngest daughter, Essie, asked for her dads to be together in a letter to Santa. That is some heart-melting business, there. What did you ask for Christmas when you were 11? Was it for your gay dads to be together in wedded bliss after years of being told that their partnership wasn't recognized in the eyes of the law? No? It was an Easy Bake oven? I guess that's okay.

Essie also asked for Legos and two Nerf guns.

And last weekend, the wedding went off without a hitch. The couple issued a statement:

Even after 22 years together, we're overwhelmed by how blessed we feel to celebrate this special day with our friends and family. With our three kids by our side, this couldn't have been a more perfect day. Thank you to all our friends near and far for their love and support as we continue to fight to ensure all families can experience the joys of a lifetime commitment.

We'd say so. Though more states ban same-sex marriages than allow it, there has been a lot of headway in the last 15 years toward marriage equality. The wedding came within a few days of the one year anniversary of the death of the Defense of Marriage Act, which ruled that a federal ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. Now, states' gay marriage laws can't be questioned at a national level, which has shown a surge in state-level policy.

Congratulations to the beautiful Maloney-Florke family! May a gay congressman's marriage one day not have to be news. But for now, we'll grab some more tissues.

Images: Sean Patrick Maloney/Congress