New York City saw a spike in marriages in the weeks following Donald Trump’s electoral victory, driven in part by same-sex couples and those with concerns about their immigration status.
The City Clerk’s office, which oversees the Marriage Bureau, recorded 8,537 marriage license appointments made in November 2024, the month when Trump was reelected. That’s a 33% increase compared to November last year, according to data the agency shared with THE CITY.
In the two weeks leading up to the election, the city tracked around 1,500 marriage license appointments each week. That jumped to 2,365 the week after the election, from Nov. 6 to 12, a 55% increase. The number of appointments remained above average for the rest of the month, with a slight dip to 1,914 appointments the week ending on Dec. 3.
“The appointments are going faster. It feels like the election had an impact,” City Clerk Michael McSweeney, told THE CITY.
New appointments to pick up marriage certificates and for in-person ceremonies go online every Monday morning.
“[Appointments] were not going this quickly in October,” McSweeney added. “There’s no question there’s an increase.”
But the city does not track couples’ gender or immigration status, so there is no data on who exactly is getting married. While some couples leaving the marriage bureau in Lower Manhattan on a recent morning said the election played no role in their decision to tie the knot, several others said it was the first thing on their minds.
“We already fought for [gay marriage] I don’t want to have to do it again,” said Ryan Addario, 36, as he was leaving the Marriage Bureau in Lower Manhattan on a recent morning after picking up a marriage certificate with his partner of 13 years, 39-year-old Nicholas Caycedo. “I just didn’t want to have any potential obstacles whenever that happens.”
The couple, who live in Mott Haven in The Bronx, said they’d been planning on getting married eventually but decided to pull the trigger in the days after Trump’s election.
Addario and Caycedo expressed concerns echoed by many same-sex couples leaving the Marriage Bureau on a recent morning: A newly-emboldened U.S. Supreme Court with a conservative super-majority might overturn the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same sex-marriage. And Republicans, in control of all branches of government, may not be inclined to enshrine marriage protections into federal law.
“God knows, we just don’t know with the upcoming administration,” said a 53-year-old newlywed named Karen, who declined to give last name, who was leaving the Marriage Bureau with her new wife following their in-person ceremony Thursday morning.
The couple had been together for five years and have a baby, who was swaddled in blankets on the frigid winter morning. An attorney they consulted has been encouraging many LGBTQ families to tie the knot, particularly to protect the parental rights of the nonbiological parent. Karen’s wife, who is Australian, declined to give her name.
“We also heard that if you’re already married, it’s less likely they can take that away from you,” she said.
Another same-sex couple from Ecuador leaving the Marriage Bureau said they wanted to make their relationship official for immigration purposes, in addition to their fears that the Supreme Court could toss marriage equality.
“Just the fact that we’ve been together for so long, we don’t want anything to get in the way of our life plans,” said 30-year-old Paula, who declined to give her last name.
“So we’re just moving forward,” her 28-year-old partner Amalia added.
‘This Is the Time to Get Married’
Even in New York, those concerns are not necessarily unwarranted.
Same-sex marriage was enshrined in state law by the 2011 Marriage Equality Act, so even if the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its landmark 2015 decision, marriage equality would remain on the books in the state, and several others reliably blue states in the Northeast, midwest and Western United States.
But attorney Diana Adams, the executive director of the Chosen Family Law Center, said that if Obergefell v. Hodges were to fall, unmarried same-sex couples could run into problems when traveling to red states that don’t have the same protections, especially couples with children.
“Having a legal connection to your child, having a legal connection to your partner is very, very helpful. And so if you were intending to get married, this is the time to get married,” Adams said.
The Chosen Family Law Center, which offers free legal consultation to low-income LGBTQ New Yorkers has been flooded with questions and concerns from same-sex couples and transgender people in New York and beyond over the past month, Adams said.
They advise same sex couples with children to go a step further and opt for a second parent adoption or or “judgement of parentage” both of which would enshrine the nonbiological parents parental rights in court documents.
“That is absolutely essential because that is a court order and that is going to be given a lot more respect in other states,” Adams said.
Racing the Clock
But it wasn’t just same sex-couples who were rushing to tie the knot in the wake of Trump’s election.
Rachel, a 40-year-old bride who declined to give her last name, was picking up a marriage certificate with her Israeli fiancé. The two met while she was visiting Tel Aviv seven months ago, and they were rushing the marriage on a tighter timeline to jumpstart his immigration paperwork.
They are also considering relocating to Israel because of Trump’s election and wanted to be married before doing so.
“We wanted to get everything signed and dotted, especially with Trump,” said Rachel. Her groom declined to give his last name fearing immigration repercussions.
“People think [Trump’s] a friend to Israel. But I still don’t think he has their best interest in mind,” Rachel said, who said she was concerned about rising anti-Semitism in the United States, but also about Trump’s attacks on immigrants and the LGBTQ community. “I don’t think it will be safer for the Jewish community.”
While the mood was urgent for many couples leaving the Marriage Bureau, it was also joyous. Caycedo and Addario bubbled with details of their upcoming wedding day, where they’d have a small ceremony on the green at Lincoln Center, the site of their first date, followed by dinner and drinks with loved ones.
“We’re in love and that’s the most important thing,” Caycedo said.
“There’s so much uncertainty in the world right now and so much uncertainty with what will occur in the next coming year with this new presidency. The one thing that is certain is our love. And I was like, ‘let’s surrender to that.’”
