Newlyweds told they need proof

New Paltz ? Advice for the newly married of New Paltz: Bring your driver's license to the Social Security office if you want to change your name.
Or bring your health insurance card. Or maybe your supermarket's Price-Plus card. Because if you were one of the 134 people granted marriage certificates by the New Paltz town clerk since Feb. 27, Social Security won't believe you're married ? a fact that all kinds of people outside the federal bureaucracy find unbelievable, discriminatory and just a little bizarre, even for a federal bureaucracy.
Feb. 27 was the date on which Village Mayor Jason West gained national notoriety by solemnizing 25 same-sex marriages. Because of the legal controversy surrounding gay marriage, Social Security says it won't accept any marriage certificates from New Paltz issued since then if a woman wants to change her maiden name.
"That's horrendous," said New Paltz Town Clerk Marian Cappillino, who, like every other town clerk in the state, has refused to issue certificates to gay couples.
"If a certificate has the name Marian Cappillino, I guarantee you it's legal," she said.
Doesn't matter, says Social Security spokesman John Shallman. It's all got to do with keeping the record straight and not discriminating against anyone.
"Social Security records are the key to many government agencies," Shallman said. "We have to ensure the security and accuracy of those records."
And because it doesn't differentiate between tradition pairings and gay ones, it's non-discriminatory," he said.
To which news West reacted with a dismissive hoot.
"This is so patently bigoted it's almost unbelievable," he said.
New Paltz isn't the only community on Social Security's hit list. San Francisco is there and also Asbury Park, N.J., as well as two counties in Oregon and New Mexico, where gay marriage is in dispute. Because gay marriage is legal in Massachusetts, the restriction doesn't apply there.
Rep. Maurice Hinchey's office has filed a complaint about the policy with the agency, urging federal officials to rescind it.
The policy "is arbitrarily targeting individuals who have been legally married," the letter said, while denying "law-abiding citizens access to federal services routinely provided to other Americans."
Meanwhile, Susie Wilkening, the New Paltz newlywed who sparked the controversy when she tried to change her name using her marriage certificate, has refused to abide by the restriction.
"Anyone can change their name, but I can't prove I'm married until they change their policy," she said. "I want them to recognize my marriage ? I guess I'm just a little bit stubborn."