New York to Recognize Out of State Gay Marriages as Legal

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Gay couples in New York celebrated the decision this week of Governor David Paterson to order all state agencies to recognize legal out-of-state gay marriages.

The decision became widely public after California’s State Supreme Court ruling that banning gay and lesbian couples the rights of marriage was unconstitutional, though Paterson’s order actually came through one day before California’s ruling.

Paterson says he based the directive on a February 1st state court ruling that allowed a lesbian woman married in Canada to retain legal married status in order to receive spousal health care benefits through her partner’s New York job.

The governor’s legal counsel, David Nocenti, wrote to state agencies, in part, that gay and lesbian couples wed elsewhere "should be afforded the same recognition as any other legally performed union."

The order told state agencies to examine the language in their standard forms, and to report back by June 30th as to whether there were any apparent conflicts. Otherwise, agencies could change language (for example, to ensure that the word "spouse" could refer to a hetero or homosexual partner), on their own through inter-office memos, without having to go to court.

Gays and lesbians took the news as a victory, a sign of progress that the mood of the country may be changing toward homosexual marriages.

Said New York assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell to reporters, "Very shortly, there will be hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, and probably thousands and thousands and thousands of gay people who have their marriages recognized by the state."

Not so fast, say other groups. Those opposed to gay marriage are complaining that the governor took the long way around the will of the people. "It’s a perfect example of a governor overstepping his authority and sidestepping the democratic process," according to Brian Raum, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, which opposes gay marriage. "It’s an issue of public policy that should be decided by the voters."

But Governor Paterson says he did not write any new laws, just made it mandatory for state agencies to comply with existing state laws that say people of all sexual orientations are to be treated equally under the law. Paterson said to the press, "This is not an end run around the Legislature. I am following the law as it always has existed," adding that those who claimed it ran counter to the law "should get a little better informed."

But some argue that it is the legislature and the votes of the people, not the governor who should have the last word. New York’s Republican State Majority Leader Joseph Bruno referred to a 2006 court ruling on the issue, telling reporters, "You have to understand that the court, the highest court here in New York state, made it very very clear that the only union that is legal in New York state, to perform a marriage ceremony, is between a man and a woman."

Despite the quibbling by public figures, the gay community of New York is rejoicing in the directive. Fred Adams wed his partner Fred Davie in 2004 in Massachusetts, and they’re thrilled to know they’ll be treated like any other married couple in their home state. "We've come such a long way," said Adams to reporters at The Washington Post. "We know that we have a legally recognized marriage, and it's going to open up new opportunities for us to be treated fairly, to get benefits we deserve as a couple."