"We Had to Destroy Marriage in Order to Save It"

Rorshach at No Capital found the following item on 365Gay.com:

(New Paltz, New York) The Social Security Administration is refusing to recognize any marriage – straight or gay – performed in New Paltz, New York.

The tiny hamlet north of Manhattan burst onto the national scene in February when its mayor followed San Francisco in allowing gays to marry. (story) New Paltz officials are now under a court imposed ban on conducting gay marriages, but the federal government is taking no chances.

A temporary directive from the Social Security Administration not to accept any marriage certificates issued in New Paltz as identification has now been made permanent.

The move came as a shock to one straight couple in the town. Susie Kilpatrick Wilkening recently married Jeremy Wilkening, but when she went to the Social Security office in Kingston, New York to get her surname changed to Wilkening she was told the federal government would not accept her marriage.

"I presented my marriage certificate, and I was told that it was not an acceptable form of ID because it was from New Paltz," she told the Daily Freeman newspaper.

A spokesperson for the administration said that the policy began with the State of New York.

"The state has said that it does not consider (any marriage certificates issued in New Paltz) legal documents, so we are waiting until all of the legal issues on the state level are resolved," Jane Zanca told the Freeman.

But, officials at the New York Department of State, which maintains all state records, also said they had nothing to do with the Social Security policy.

Last February when San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples Social Security instructed its offices nationwide not to accept any marriage certificates from San Francisco as proof of identification. (story)

(via Holden, who is posting for skippy)