SYRACUSE -- October 14 will be a special day for Frederick Marvin and Ernst Schuh. After 52 years together, the two men will marry at Syracuse City Hall.
Mayor Stephanie Miner will officiate the ceremony. Marvin and Schuh have been waiting a long time for this. Marvin is 91 years old. Schuh is 89.
Marvin, a concert pianist, worked as a professor and "Artist in Residence" at Syracuse University from 1968-1990. During his time at SU, he was also giving concerts in the U.S. and abroad. In Syracuse alone, he gave 35 piano recitals in Crouse Auditorium.
Schuh worked as an opera critic for an Austrian newspaper and managed Marvin's European concert career.
"The music and opera brought us together," says Schuh.
On June 22, the couple received a certificate in Austria that gives them the same equal rights as a marriage document. Now, they are excited to get married in Syracuse, under the New York State Equality Marriage Act. They say they're getting a lot of support from their friends.
"They call up and say, 'Fabulous! What did you wait so long for?'" says Marvin. "Because it wasn't possible before."
This will be the second same-sex marriage Mayor Miner will officiate. She says the couple wrote her a letter asking her to marry them.
"They, like other couples I have married, are in a loving, committed relationship and are very excited," says Miner. "They have a long past together, which is somewhat different than other couples I have married, and they want to celebrate that. I was just honored that they thought I would be the right person to ask."
The wedding is scheduled for October 14th.
