764 anniversaries in NYC

I thought of heading this post "7/24 to be an anniversary for 764."

New York City will be conducting a lot of marriages today: Expecting Overload on Day 1 of Gay Marriage, City Sets 764-Wedding Limit

"Demand for same-sex marriage in New York is so great that the city has decided to cap at 764 the number of couples who can be wed at clerks’ offices on Sunday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said on Tuesday.

"Mr. Bloomberg said the city would hold a lottery to determine which couples, gay or straight, will be allowed to marry at the five borough clerks’ offices. Sunday is likely to break the single-day record for marriages performed by the city, which currently stands at 621."
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There will also be weddings elsewhere in NY State, some at the stroke of midnight:
"The first marriages were scheduled to take place just after midnight in Niagara Falls, where officials planned to illuminate the famous cascade in the colors of a rainbow, and in Albany, where an eager mayor planned to marry eight gay couples.
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"Not everyone will be celebrating. Town clerks in at least two rural communities have resigned in recent days, saying their religious convictions precluded them from marrying gay couples, and some cities will see public demonstrations on Sunday. The National Organization for Marriage is planning protests on Sunday afternoon..."

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And in related news (related through the transformation of a formerly repugnant transaction into an ordinary one),
"President Obama formally certified on Friday that the American military is ready for the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy as Pentagon officials said that nearly two million service members had been trained in preparation for gay men and women serving openly in their ranks."

"Enactment of the repeal will come in 60 days, on Sept. 20. The two-month waiting period is called for in the legislation passed late last year that ended “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the 17-year-old law that banned openly gay men, lesbians and bisexuals from military service.

“As of Sept. 20, service members will no longer be forced to hide who they are in order to serve our country,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. He signed the certification, along with Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about 3:30 p.m. in the Oval Office."
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Mazel tov to all...