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MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Getting on the Times’ weddings page
BY MICHAEL BRONSKI

Advocates of same-sex-marriage rights greeted the news that the New York Times will begin publishing the wedding announcements of gay and lesbian couples with praise — and the hope that other major newspapers will follow suit. Robert Dodge, president of the board of directors for the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists’ Association, a group that has lobbied the Times for years on this issue and met last year with Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. to discuss the matter, says, " The Times is a leader and a bellwether for other papers, [so] the effect of their decision " may be wide-ranging. Indeed, within a couple of years we may see every other paper in the country doing the same thing.

But the real drama of this decision lies not in the great Gray Lady’s editorial room. It can be found instead in the bedrooms of Manhattan’s A-list queer couples who are now staying up late plotting how they can become the first to be written up in the Times. As you read this, gay CEOs, provosts of major universities, published writers, senior consultants in multinational corporations, highly regarded physicians and medical researchers, vice-presidents of large banking concerns, lawyers with top-drawer Manhattan law firms, and those well known simply for being seen at the best fundraisers, nightclubs, theater openings, and social events are frantically putting together the perfect guest list. They’re coming up with names of noted ministers, rabbis, and caterers in the hopes of being among the first queer couplings to be chronicled on the " Weddings " page.

But the real prize, of course, would be a write-up in the widely read " Vows " column, which describes in pornographic detail the food, clothing, guest lists, and — by implication — budgets of some of New York’s most notable couplings. Toward that end, is it a plus or a minus these days to get Martha Stewart to attend? What would happen if you could get RSVPs from Rudi as well as Donna? Liz Smith is old hat, but maybe the entire cast of Sex and the City — or even just half the cast — would be enough to get notice. It would probably be a cinch to get the Queer As Folk people in, but would the Times think they were a draw? Elton John apparently goes anywhere — though he did skip Liza’s wedding — but will he insist on playing " Candle in the Wind " during the processional? Gwyneth always gets attention, but she may be overexposed. And does anyone really know someone who knows her? Theme weddings — lavishly updated versions of the April-in-Paris junior prom — always get attention in " Vows. " But what would work in this case? Nothing tacky, certainly; the Times never has a sense of camp, at least not on the society pages. Scratch the Black Party Wedding, the Woman’s Music Festival Wedding, and the ever-popular Muppet wedding. Better to forget the theme thing, for now at least.

Does anyone have Madonna’s phone number?

Issue Date: August 22 - 29, 2002
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