Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in the U.S. state of New York since July 24, 2011 under the Marriage Equality Act. The Act does not have a residency restriction, as some similar laws in other states do. It allows religious organizations to decline to officiate at same-sex wedding ceremonies. In 2006, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the New York State Constitution does not require same-sex marriage rights and left the question of recognition to the State Legislature. Following the 2006 court decision, the New York State Assembly passed same-sex marriage legislation in 2007, 2009, and 2011. However, the New York Senate rejected such legislation in a 38–24 vote on December 2, 2009. In June 2011, same-sex marriage legislation passed both the House and the Senate; it was signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo on June 24, 2011, and took effect on July 24, 2011. New York became the sixth U.S. state, and the seventh U.S. jurisdiction (after the District of Columbia), to license same-sex marriages. History 1970s activism In 1970s, members of Gay Activists Alliance carried out a zap at the New York City Marriage License Bureau demanding marriage rights for gays. The direct action was in response to Government discrimination against ceremonial same sex unions that had been carried out in a church where GAA used as a meeting space. Jim Owles was the founding president of GAA, described as the largest militant gay rights organization in the United States. Videos of the action exist on YouTube. An express advocacy group Gay activist Jesús Lebrón worked with other activists, including Brendan Fay, for fight for same-sex marriage rights. Lebrón was a founder of Marriage Equality New York, an advocacy group. MENY would later play an instrumental role in shaping public opinion and lobbying for passage of the Marriage Equality Act of New York. New Paltz marriages On February 27, 2004, New Paltz Mayor Jason West married 25 same-sex couples in front of the New Paltz village hall. Not long thereafter, the Ulster County district attorney charged West with nineteen misdemeanors in connection with these marriages. A court later dismissed the charges against West, a ruling which the state appealed. Ulster County Court Judge J. Michael Bruhn ruled in favor of the state, reinstating the charges against West, arguing that this criminal case did not concern whether the state constitution mandated same-sex marriage, but rather whether West