Gay Marriage passes in NY and Neil Patrick gets engaged...

Neil Patrick Harris announces engagement
Bang Showbiz June 27, 2011, 3:30 am

Neil Patrick Harris is engaged.

The 38-year-old actor - who plays ladies man Barney Stinson on TV show' How I Met Your Mother' - announced his engagement to partner David Burtka after gay marriage was made legal in New York on Friday (24.06.110).

He tweeted: "It PASSED! Marriage equality in NY!! Yes!! Progress!! Thank you everyone who worked so hard on this!! A historic night!

"David and I did propose to each other, but over five years ago. We've been wearing engagement rings for ages, waiting for an available date. (sic)"

Neil and David have been in a relationship since 2004 and became parents to twins Gideon Scott and Harper Grace in October 2010 via a surrogate mother.

Neil had been vocal about his desire to marry David, writing on twitter: "Please vote yes on marriage equality. It'd mean a lot to me and my family.

"I'd sure love to get married. Please, NY Senate, vote in favor of marriage equality today. My family would really appreciate it."

Gay and lesbian couples first to marry mid-air

A gay couple from Germany and a lesbian couple from Poland married on an airplane yesterday between Stockholm and New York.

They wed on board a SAS flight. The company is owned by the governments of Norway, Denmark and Sweden, which all recognise marriage for gay couples.

SAS has been conducting straight weddings in the air for years but began a competition in September for gay and lesbian couples to become the first to wed on a plane.

The winning couple were Aleksandar Mijatovic and Shantu Bhattacherjee, who won the competition with 81,640 votes. Their wedding was followed by that of lesbian couple Ewa Tomaszewicz and Gosia Rawińska.

The short ceremonies took place over Sweden at around 20,000 feet and were conducted by a registrar from the European Parliament.

Anders Lindström, the PR director of SAS airlines said: “We are extremely proud to be the first airline to host not only the world’s first mid-air same-sex wedding, but both the first gay and first lesbian wedding.

“As the national airline of the world’s three most progressive countries, which were the first to legalise same-sex marriages, we felt it was completely natural to also be the first with this.”

Ms Tomaszewicz and Ms Rawińska, from Poland, said their wedding was a “small victory” for all those who wish to marry in Poland, where gay marriage is currently banned.