Gotham Rules
6 February 2008 by Bob
Well, at least sort of…
State Court Recognizes Gay Marriages From Elsewhere
A New York appellate court ruled Friday that valid out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples must be legally recognized in New York, just as the law recognizes those of heterosexual couples solemnized elsewhere. Lawyers for both sides said the ruling applied to all public and private employers in the state. Even though gay couples may not legally marry in New York, the appellate court in Rochester held that a gay couple’s 2004 marriage in Canada must be respected under the state’s longstanding “marriage recognition rule,” and that an employer’s denial of health benefits had discriminated against the couple on the basis of their sexual orientation. “The Legislature may decide to prohibit the recognition of same-sex marriages solemnized abroad,” a five-judge panel of the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court ruled unanimously in rejecting a 2006 lower court decision. “Until it does so, however, such marriages are entitled to recognition in New York.” For more than a century, the court noted, New York State has recognized valid out-of-state marriages. Moreover, it said that the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest judicial body, has said the Legislature may enact laws recognizing same-sex marriages. “In our view, the Court of Appeals thereby indicated that the recognition of plaintiff’s marriage is not against the public policy of New York,” the court held.
Even though New York State recently shot down gay marriages, at least they’ll recognize gay marriages from elsewhere — which is, like, good if you need something important, like, you know, health care…
7 February 2008, on 12:59 pm
Wow. A judge following the law. Must be one of those liberal activist judges.
7 February 2008, on 2:08 pm
[Photo caption]: “HmnenmmnenmmmnenMMMNEN…!!!”
Translation:
“Holy tongue wrestling, Batman!”
I dunno, Bob…just felt the need to put SOMETHING into the wide open, gaping, comment thread chasm!
[A WHITE hole?]
As you were!
7 February 2008, on 7:09 pm
Hey look, guys kissing!
Sorry; got nothing but wanted to contribute…:-S
7 February 2008, on 8:20 pm
Another faltering step in the right direction. It’s been a fun and sometimes scary game for my husband and I to play in the last few years, when we drive from home in Baltimore to visit folks in New England: New Jersey, we’re Civil-Unioned here, New York, we’re married here, Connecticut, we’re Civil-Unioned here, Massachusetts, we’re married here we think, Vermont, we’re Civil-Unioned here, Canada, we’re married here!
Of course, it gets really scary traveling south and west: Ohio, we’re non-persons here, Virginia, ditto.
And the Batman and Robin picture is hot, yes.
8 February 2008, on 4:23 am
- First, I have to admit that a few years ago I thought that this gay marriage thing was just a side issue and worried that it was just stick to be used by hypocritical Rethuglicans to win elections, especially close ones.
But I have been surprised about how far things have progressed and that it has become far more mainstream and now admit my error. However, I still don’t see the need for the “M” word.
In some countries, like France, all marriages have to be done by a government representative, usually the mayor. Purely religious marriages are not recognized. France has a civil union law called the PAC which insures the rights of partners who are not in the traditional scope of marriage. So they benefit the same as married couples. It even gives protection to foreigners who might be having immigration problems.
One of the interesting things is that the French law is not only for same sex couples. Members of a family who run a business, for example, can create a PAC’s for tax and inheritance reasons. So if one dies, the other doesn’t lose the business or even a shared home.
I think marriage itself should simply be replaced by something like that.
8 February 2008, on 11:44 am
Holy shit, Thomas — you made all of those costumes?
That’s incredible! Well done!
Please accept my apologies for all homophobes everywhere.
8 February 2008, on 3:14 pm
bernarda, that sounds like a very reasonable and workable approach to the issue - which means we probably won’t be seeing anything like it on a widespread scale here in the US for quite some time.
On the other hand, it’s gratifying as always to see ordinary human beings in the trenches, so to speak, simply going about the business of life and getting what they need for themselves done one way or another - although the “married-no, civil-unioned” business is tiresome to say the least!
8 February 2008, on 9:21 pm
Hey look, guys kissing!
Oh no! Shield your children’s eyes! If they see that, they may become horribly confused and disturbed and never recover!
10 February 2008, on 8:12 pm
Sorry, guys, but Batman kissing Robin is wrong; not because they’re guys, but because that’s Batman’s ward for crap’s sake. That’s knocking on incest’s door. Creepy.
11 February 2008, on 5:52 pm
^ True - on the other hand, they are fantasy characters…
11 February 2008, on 6:23 pm
Batman’s Lolita?
11 February 2008, on 11:43 pm
LMAO