Years ago, Michele Bachmann's openly gay stepsister Helen LaFave protested at one of Michele's anti-gay rallies. Since then, Helen has kept a low profile, but she continues to support liberal politics: Salon's Natasha Lennard recently uncovered a video of Helen and long-term partner Nia Wronski attending Obama's 2009 presidential inauguration. The duo got their tickets "through one of the congresspeople" and drove for two days "with six family members."

Laura Fotusky, clerk of rural Barker, N.Y., quit her post on Tuesday rather than grant marriage licenses to gay folks. She would probably had more fun staying and being really judge-y with the marrying gays, but, well, God hates gay marriage! (She's posted her resignation letter here, if you really care.) Gay couples in the region are better off driving the hour to Niagra Falls anyway and going the whole nine yards with the honeymoon suite and everything. In any event—Laura—really—we mean this—don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. [Politico; image, not of Barker, and not of Fotusky, via Shutterstock]

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is totally down with the gays. (The "R" is for "RAWR!") And what better way to put his money where his mouth is than to dance shirtless on a speaker at the Once Upon a Pines Party? But he isn't doing that. But he is marrying two of his top gay advisers on July 24. It's the same-sex marriage equivalent of throwing the ceremonial first pitch on opening day!

Is the date July 24th on your wall calendar covered in little pink bells and caterers' emergency cell numbers? Then you might be one of the thousands of New Yorkers expected to flood city offices that Sunday, looking to get hitched the second the state's gay marriage bill goes into effect. You've waited long enough — open them courthouse doors!

Today is the first day that gay New Yorkers can apply for a marriage license. Congrats! Too bad the City Clerk's online form for a marriage license still insists on a "bride" and "groom." Um, how is that supposed to work?

Though New Jersey couple Josh Vandiver, a Princeton grad student, and Henry Velandia, a Venezuelan dancer, were legally married in Connecticut, because of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, Velandia was still facing deportation on an expired visa. Well, no longer!

The gay dominos are falling! The Rhode Island State Senate passed a bill legalizing civil unions on Wednesday, sending the measure to Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who's expected to sign it. Next up: Man-quahog weddings (catered by Del's). [Providence Journal]

Never believe anything Rudy Giuliani tells you about marriage. "I do"? Bullshit. "To have and to hold"? Lie. "I promise to preside over the wedding of my two good gay friends as soon as marriage is legal in New York"? Take a guess.

On tonight's Report, Stephen Colbert commented on the bill that legalized gay marriage in New York last week. Goodness gracious, what's next? Will we soon see women entering into gay marriages with their pet dolphins? That does seem to be a concern of Fox News buffoon Bill O'Reilly, as Colbert demonstrated on his show this evening.

Gay New Yorkers can now get married. That's great news, of course, but let's not forget that there is no bigger logistical or etiquette nightmare on this planet than planning a wedding. Since the traditional roles for a male-female wedding go out the window for gay nuptials, here are some ground rules an suggestions to get you started.

Old grifting fundie fartsack Pat Robertson is getting tired of saying it over, and over, and over again, whenever some gay stuff comes up in the news, so please pay attention this time: The more gay couples are allowed to pick up marriage certificates at the court house and file their taxes jointly, the more likely it is that America's Christian God will destroy our civilization in a fit of rage. Thanks for nothing, Andy Cuomo.

Surging future presidentrix of America Michele Bachmann has got a well-documented problem with homosexuals, because they trap her in restrooms all the time. But on the subject of same-sex marriage, she sounds surprisingly reasonable. Maybe that gay glitter was cut with mood stabilizers?

Here are the covers of New York's three biggest dailies. Notice anything? That's right: Only the News Corp-owned Post had the guts to cover the shocking story of a "hero cop" saving a "suicidal gal." What do the Times and the Daily News lead with? Some obscure bit of legalism passed by the bums in Albany. [Yawns] Looks like we all know which paper covers the real New York!

The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal both have behind-the-scenes accounts of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's successful push for gay marriage in New York. And (surprise!) the key was a bunch of rich Republicans.

In case you haven't heard, New York passed a bill tonight making same-sex marriage legal. Just before the results were announced, openly gay State Senator Tom Duane gave an emotional speech in support of the bill. Here are some highlights.

The New York State Senate just passed a bill legalizing gay marriage, 33-29. It now heads to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's desk for his promised signature. The bystanders in Albany are going nuts. Go celebrate!

The New York State Senate will vote on same-sex marriage this evening. It's unclear what time the vote will take place, but it could happen any minute now. After they work through several other bills, at least. You can watch a livestream of the proceedings below. [Update: The bill has passed!]

Some of us suckers have woken up each morning this week hoping to see the headline, "New York Senate Finally Does Something About This Friggin Gay Marriage Bill," only to see the same story about how state Republicans are still thinkin' about it. And guess what? Today is no different, except that senators are getting pissy.

It's been difficult to follow the developments this week in the fight for same-sex marriage in New York. Someone on Twitter says "EXCLUSIVE: VOTE HAPPENING TONIGHT," and then five minutes later, "UPDATE: NO VOTE EVER." So let's try to make some sense of what's happening.

The battle for legal same-sex marriage is currently being waged in Albany, and though we are this close to victory, we're not there yet. The cause still needs your help!