Just over a year after New York State legalized same-sex marriage, lawmakers upstate have ruled that the state senate did not violate any state-mandated open meeting laws, upholding the Marriage Equality Act.
The ruling came after the (ironically-named?) conservative group New Yorkers For Constitutional Freedoms filed a lawsuit last year claiming that Governor Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg held several illegal closed-door meetings with Republican majority members in the days leading up to the gay marriage vote. The group called for an overturn of the Marriage Equality Act, but yesterday, the Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court in Rochester ruled that the meetings neither violated the law nor warranted nullifying same-sex marriage, since private meetings between legislative caucuses and guests are legal under the Open Meetings Law.
"Today the New York State Appellate Court, Fourth Department upheld New York's Marriage Equality Act, which ensures that marriage is available to all New York couples regardless of sexual orientation," Governor Cuomo wrote in a statement yesterday in response to the ruling. "The court's decision affirms that in our state, there is marriage equality for all, and with this decision New York continues to stand as a progressive leader for the nation."
Meanwhile, members of the New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, whose mission statement says the group "exists to influence legislation and legislators for the Lord Jesus Christ," plan to carry on their noble crusade against husband-and-husband cake toppers, despite the ruling. "The integrity of our legislative process is at stake, and it is worth defending," the group's executive director, Rev. Jason J. McGuire, said in a statement yesterday, proving once again that life just isn't fair, is it.
