It has been two years since New York had a big political wedding to fuss over (Chelsea+Marc4Eva!) so thank goodness for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, eh? The frontrunner to replace Mayor Bloomberg is planning to marry her girlfriend next month and the Times today looks at what that means. The big takeaway? With the possible exception of Barney Frank, who is leaving politics soon after he gets hitched, Quinn's wedding will make her the highest profile married gay in politics.
Quinn and her girlfriend of more than a decade, Kim Catullo, are set to wed on May 19 at the Highline Stages with nearly 300 of their nearest and dearest—including Mayor Bloomberg, Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and a smattering of local pols like Vito Lopez. The pair are purposely trying to keep the event from turning into a royal wedding, but they are also not exactly shunning media attention. Because, considering the fact that if she becomes mayor Quinn would be the first female mayor of the city and first (openly) gay mayor, we are going to be there no matter what.
Still, Quinn argues, "There’s really not a political implication to this for me as it relates to electoral politics. We’re trying to make it really a day, a night that’s about friends and family and us." But, as she prepares for her wedding and her upcoming run for Gracie Mansion, Quinn hasn't exactly been shy with the press about her vows, talking to both The New Yorker and Elle about it. And political observers say that is on purpose.
"She comes over, typically, as a rather tough politician," Kenneth Sherill, a professor of political science at Hunter College, told the Times before noting that the wedding, "puts a warm and loving face on a politician, at a time when we don’t think of politicians that way."
Us? We're just excited for all the Chris Quinn's Big Gay Wedding headlines next month.
