I was really surprised that to get married in New York, the officiant pretty much has to be a judge, the town clerk, or a religious representative of an "official" religion with an established place of worship. Seems awfully unfair that atheists have fewer options than members of popular religions. What possible interest does the state have in vetting wedding officiants anyway?
It is a legally binding ceremony so presumably you don't want that to be performed by just anybody. The idea that it's performed by someone who is licensed with the state and therefore officially accepts obligations that come with the right to marry other people seems reasonable to me.
As to unfairness, maybe it would be unfair if it would be a trouble to find an officiant that is not a religious representative. The way I see it is that allowing religious representatives to perform a wedding ceremony as accepting societal reality that many people are religious and are more comfortable when wedding is performed by a religious representative but in no way it constitutes harm to non-religious people.
I was really surprised that to get married in New York, the officiant pretty much has to be a judge, the town clerk, or a religious representative of an "official" religion with an established place of worship. Seems awfully unfair that atheists have fewer options than members of popular religions. What possible interest does the state have in vetting wedding officiants anyway?