LI gay, lesbian group adds weddings to expo

With the state's legalization last week of same-sex marriages, the Long Island Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Services Network will change the name of its annual business expo this year. It will now be called the Business, Life and Wedding Expo --  not just Business and Life.

"Weddings are going to be the new addition this year," said LIGLBT chief executive David Kilmnick. "With marriage equality being legal in New York State, the Long Island economy is going to be getting a big boost."

The free one-day expo, this year on Oct. 2 at the Hyatt Regency in Hauppauge, is the largest consumer event for Long Island's gay and lesbian community. Some 4,000 people are expected this year, double the number of last year, Kilmnick said.

"We're going to be using every nook and cranny" at the hotel, he said.

About 125 vendors, including car companies, hotels and travel businesses and financial companies, showed up last year. That number is also expected to double this year.

Already, one vendor has signed up for the expo -- David Mejias of Glen Cove, a divorce lawyer. Mejias, of the Glen Cove law firm Mejias, Milgrim and Alvarado, said his firm was the first in the state to advertise its services for gays three years ago, when then-Gov. David A. Paterson signed an executive order requiring government agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed outside the state. Mejias said his firm's first case involved two Connecticut women.

"They owned $1,000 worth of shoes," Mejias said. "And they both wore the same size."

How was it resolved? "They flipped a coin," he said.