NEW YORK, Sept. 2 — The New York Times ran its first announcement of a same-sex commitment ceremony, celebrating the union of a Fulbright scholar and the founder of a public affairs consulting firm.

THE CIVIL UNION ceremony of Daniel Gross, 32, and Steven Goldstein, 40, by a judge in Vermont, ran along with the couple’s photo in the newly retitled “Weddings/Celebrations” feature Sunday.
“Ten years ago, none of this would have been possible,” Goldstein said during an exchange of Jewish vows at the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Montreal. “Dreams do come true.”
Times Executive Editor Howell Raines announced last month that the newspaper would begin announcing same-sex unions.
“In making this change, we acknowledge the newsworthiness of a growing and visible trend in society toward public celebrations of commitment by gay and lesbian couples — celebrations important to many of our readers, their families and their friends,” Raines said.
The gay and lesbian couples featured in the Times are selected by editors using the same criteria as used for weddings: The newsworthiness and accomplishments of the couples and their families.

Gross, a Fulbright scholar, is a vice president of GE Capital in Stamford, Conn. Goldstein founded Attention America, a New York public affairs consulting firm.
“We didn’t make this any kind of political statement, we didn’t threaten to boycott or feel like it was anything unusual other than simply writing a letter to the society page,” Gross said Monday on NBC’s “Today” show. “Our union, and civil unions like this, are in fact part of what is truly happening in the world.”