NY State Court of Appeals Rejects Gay Marriage

The NY State Court of Appeals ruled that gay marriage is not allowed. The Court of Appeals heard a NYC case in which Judge Doris Ling-Cohan ruled that gay marriage was allowed. The city appealed, and the case made it way up to the highest court in the state. Here's the ruling (PDF) and here's some of what it says:

We hold that the New York Constitution does not compel recognition of marriages between members of the same sex. Whether such marriages should be recognized is a question to be addressed by the Legislature.

...We hold, in sum, that the Domestic Relations Law's limitation of marriage to opposite-sex couples is not unconstitutional. We emphasize once again that we are deciding only this constitutional question. It is not for us to say whether same-sex marriage is right or wrong. We have presented some (though not all) of the arguments against same-sex marriage because our duty to defer to the Legislature requires us to do so. We do not imply that there are no persuasive arguments on the other side -- and we know, of course, that there are very powerful emotions on both sides of the question.

The dissenters assert confidently that "future generations" will agree with their view of this case (dissenting op at 28). We do not predict what people will think generations from now, but we believe the present generation should have a chance to decide the issue through its elected representatives. We therefore express our hope that the participants in the controversy over same-sex marriage will address their arguments to the Legislature; that the Legislature will listen and decide as wisely as it can; and that those unhappy with the result -- as many undoubtedly will be -- will respect it as people in a democratic state should respect choices democratically made.

The Court of Appeals rejected gay marriage 4-2, with Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye (you may remember her from the jury videos) writing the dissent:

This State has a proud tradition of affording equal rights to all New Yorkers. Sadly, the Court today retreats from that proud tradition.

...It is uniquely the function of the Judicial Branch to safeguard individual liberties guaranteed by the New York State
Constitution, and to order redress for their violation. The Court's duty to protect constitutional rights is an imperative of the separation of powers, not its enemy.

I am confident that future generations will look back on today's decision as an unfortunate misstep.

Well, Mayor Bloomberg, during the Gay Pride Parade, you said that you'd go to Albany and lobby for gay marriage if the courts rejected it. When are you going?

And Lambda Legal had be representing the gay couples in the case - here's their website about it.

Update: Aha - a statement from Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno:

I have previously stated that I am opposed to gay marriages because I believe in the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman. The Court of Appeals made the right decision in upholding the state law that relates to this issue.

Should be interesting to see what happens when Eliot Spitzer (probably) becomes Governor.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on July 6, 2006 9:42 AM

Comments [rss]

latecoming reader/commenter

re: comments 40, 44, 46

(in case anyone looks back upon this post and is still wondering)

LBTQGNC = Lesbian, Bi, Trans, Queer, Gender Non-Conforming

Not Amused

Personally , I could give a flying- Rat Infested shithole of a fuck who you sleep with!!!! It's none of anybodies business. If you want a dick in your ass then that's your problem. As far the Bloomberg is concerned, Fuck him! He's just playing favorites here, Gassing all the gays of the city up trying to win there support! This is not a relavent discussion worhty of serious merit!!!!

confused

Confused said:

Forgive my ignorance, but the Right Rides article uses the acronym (initialism, actually) "LBTGNC" and the Right Rides website uses "LBTQGNC". I know what most of the letters stand for, but can someone help me out with the NC part? I've already checked Google and Acronym Finder without success.

GiGi said:

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I even did a Google search, and the only link that came up was for RightRides. I've heard of LGBT (lesbian gay bi trans), but never LBTQGNC. I say keep it simple.

Confused says:

My best guess is:

Lesbian, Bi, Trans, Queer, Gay, ???, Cross-dress.

I've even seen "TS" for Two Spirit (taken from Native American terminology), but this particular combination left me scratching my head.

AT

Judge Kaye's dissent nearly made me cry with relief that at least somebody gets it: "Simply put, fundamental rights are fundamental rights. They are not defined in terms of who is entitled to exercise them."

GiGi

Confused said:

Forgive my ignorance, but the Right Rides article uses the acronym (initialism, actually) "LBTGNC" and the Right Rides website uses "LBTQGNC". I know what most of the letters stand for, but can someone help me out with the NC part? I've already checked Google and Acronym Finder without success.

GiGi says:

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I even did a Google search, and the only link that came up was for RightRides. I've heard of LGBT (lesbian gay bi trans), but never LBTQGNC. I say keep it simple.

hee hee

i'd vote for president busch! par-tyyyyy!!!

mh

Further more, Agree, regarding citations, go ask our Commander and Chief, President George W. Busch. (Top General) Salute.......!!!!!

mh

Go read the constitution...

Why wait for my citations when Michael, whom you agree with, said he has studied the constitution over the years. Consult the author of thread with which you are in agreement. Let him state where there is no reference to woman and men supporting the American society through their marrital union.

He seems to have some sort of contradiction to what I stated about the constitution.

Confused

Forgive my ignorance, but the Right Rides article uses the acronym (initialism, actually) "LBTGNC" and the Right Rides website uses "LBTQGNC". I know what most of the letters stand for, but can someone help me out with the NC part? I've already checked Google and Acronym Finder without success.

lgbtech

The Empire State Pride Agenda is organizing statewide rallies to call for swift legislative action in granting equal access to marriage. The rallies will be held in seven locations across the state, including New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse; in attendance will be same-sex couples, local elected officials, union leaders and clergy.

Please visit http://www.prideagenda.org/ to find a rally near you and go show your support tonight!

Agree

I'm with Michael.

I'd also like to see mh's constitutional citations about marriage. They should be very informative based on his previous posts.

People keep asking for them, it should be very easy for him to deliver them since he is sure they are in there.

Michael

mh: Fair enough. You paraphased rather than directly quoting.

Nevertheless, you should be able to cite someplace in the constitution where a reasonable person can infer that "marriage between men and woman is for the purpose of supporting and helping the Americna society's productive growth." Your words about what the "constitution states"

I'll be waiting...

mh

hey:

keep the dictionary because it seems my point came across loud and clear. There was no mis- understanding of my thread on your part. You wouldn't feel sooooo....compelled to take a jab at my thread if the spelling interrupted the thought. ha ha he he he..... The idea and context were understood. That is all that counts for me.

______________________________

Michael, who are you kidding. Did you "study" the constitution and forget to comprehend it?

The only quoting in regards to the constitution came from your thread. There are no quotation marks in my thread.

Mary had a lamb. It was little. Do I have to quote "Mary Had A Little Lamb" for you too.

Jo

Also marriage is defined in the bible as between a man and a woman.

And what the Bible says matters.... why? I'm not a Christian. American citizens are not required to be Christian.

Therefore the Bible should have nothing to do with our politics.

I know, I know, our justice system was originally based on the ten commandments, blah, blah, blah.

But we live in a country where freedom of religion should be respected (as dictated by our constitution, even!).

So if you want to discriminate against people in YOUR bigoted churches, go right ahead. But don't expect to do it in OUR government.

And perhaps the term "marriage" was once strictly a religious term for the union, but today it also describes the legal union between two individuals.

Honestly, I think we oughta scrap the term "marriage" in all legal unions and refer to them all as civil unions, gay or straight. I don't want to be "married" if that's what churches call their discriminatory, hateful institution.

Jim

Why are gay marriage rights advocates so angry about this ruling? The proper way to introduce straight/gay equality is thru the Legislature, not thru the judiciary. If there are not enough votes in Assembly or Senate to pass it, then wait a couple of election cycles and try again. If it is really important, it will become an issue during campaigns, and this will sort itself out. Short circuting the process via the courts, as astutely pointed out by # 1 & # 4, is a guaranteed short term success/long term failure.

Michael

We, as gay people, should take our founding fathers to heart and fight back in a way that will be felt. We need to start an organized gay movement to stop paying all state and local and federal taxes until we have equal representation and rights across the board. Currently the estimate is about 10% of the 300,000 million Americans, or 30 million, are gay. Anybody for putting 30 million people in jail and paying their rent, food and medical by the state minus the tax input of all 30 million.

It takes guts but if we are organized and commited we could do this and it would work because in America, money is the bottom line.

Charles

Someone who doesn't see things your way isn't necessarily a 'troll'. Sorry to break it to you.

Paddy

The trolls are out in force.

hey

hey mh:

can i borrow your copy of the constitution? you seem to have a different copy than the rest of us.

also, i can return the dictionary i borrowed from you. you seem to need it more than i do.

mh

"For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."

This is why I do not judge/try to deny rights to others. People are free to love whomever they choose.

And I am not even religious.

[21] Posted by: from the bible | July 6, 2006 12:13 PM

______________________________

Yeah I can tell that you are not religious.

Religious people know that they are not free to do whatever they please. However, judgement is a requirement for humans.

The Bible is the only one source for judgement. Whether you are religious or not, you will still be judged by the law of God, the bible, not by the laws that you make up and live by. What would be the point of a God?

You reap what you will sow. If you plant a disfunctional society, a difunctional society will grow.