NY To Recognize All Legal Gay Marriages

New York Governor David Paterson announced an order which he issued May 14th that would cause the state of New York to recognize all gay marriages which were legal in the jurisdiction in which they were entered (such as Canada and Massachusetts and after June 17th, California).

In a directive issued on May 14, the governor’s legal counsel, David Nocenti, instructed the agencies that gay couples married elsewhere “should be afforded the same recognition as any other legally performed union.”

The revisions are most likely to involve as many as 1,300 statutes and regulations in New York governing everything from joint filing of income tax returns to transferring fishing licenses between spouses.

In a videotaped message given to gay community leaders at a dinner on May 17, Mr. Paterson described the move as “a strong step toward marriage equality.” And people on both sides of the issue said it moved the state closer to fully legalizing same-sex unions in this state.

It should be interesting to see how many other blue states follow New York's lead. I'm looking at you, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Hawaii, Maryland and New Jersey!