ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered an investigation into a small-town clerk’s denial of a marriage license for a same-sex couple.
The Democrat has directed a state agency to investigate Laurel Eriksen’s recent decision not to issue a license to Thomas Hurd and Dylan Toften, who wrote about the rejection on his Facebook page on Monday.
Officials in the town of Root, 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Albany, say Eriksen’s job is part-time and she declined to issue the license because the couple hadn’t made an appointment.
The town’s attorney acknowledged that Eriksen said she mentioned her personal objection to same-sex marriage to the couple.
Gay marriage has been legal in New York since 2011.
Cuomo called the license denial “an unconscionable act of discrimination” and offered to officiate at their wedding.
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