Clerk: Smooth First Day of Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

had a higher-than-normal number of marriage license applications on Monday — the first day the town offered the licenses to same-sex couples — but it was nothing they couldn’t handle, town Clerk Sundy Schermeyer said.

“It went very well,” she said Monday afternoon. There were 19 applications, about a half dozen of which were filled out last week but set aside until the took effect, she said.

The clerk said she has received some complaints over the past week from same-sex marriage opponents, but she has referred them to their state assemblyman or state senator, since the law was passed at the state level.

The first same-sex marriage ceremonies at town hall officiated by Schermeyer begin Tuesday, due to a mandatory 24-hour waiting period between when a license is issued and when the ceremony takes place.

In anticipation of a frenzy Tuesday — and possibly demonstrations opposing the wedding ceremonies —  Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst e-mailed members of the media Monday afternoon requesting that they begin to wear press credentials when visiting town hall, “In an effort to increase security and ensure the safety and well-being of public officials, employees, residents, and visitors alike.”

In regard to the new marriage law, Schermeyer said the only hiccup so far that her office has run into is that the state has issued new marriage licenses that read “groom/bride/spouse” instead of “bride” and “groom,” and in the process moved information around on the forms. Until her office creates a new printer template for the forms, the licenses must be filled out on a typewriter rather than a computer, she said. Otherwise, the information, such as names and addresses, will not be set on the form in the correct fields.