Photography by M. Sharkey

If New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is elected the city's mayor in 2013 -- she is widely expected to be the Democratic nominee and a strong contender to succeed Michael Bloomberg -- many will point to her nuptials this May to her longtime girlfriend, the far more private and media-averse lawyer Kim Catullo, as the deciding factor. Quinn would become the first female and first openly gay mayor of New York, and her lavish wedding -- Audra McDonald stopped by to sing a song from Porgy & Bess -- is cited as having helped soften a legendarily tough image, especially after the couple's emotional pleas to state lawmakers to act soon enough that they could marry while their fathers were still alive. (They did; both women were escorted down the aisle by their dads.) Catullo's father even called Quinn "a great catch."

Photographed at the Highline New York City on October 1, 2012