Married Same-Sex Couples in NY Threatened With Divorce

The New York Court of Appeals (the name of that state's highest court) has agreed to hear two cases that would determine whether same-sex couples who have been married in other jurisdictions can have those marriages recognized in New York. Previously, two lower court rulings and a directive by New York Governor David Paterson had made it clear that despite New York law preventing same-sex couples from getting married in their home state, if the couple got married in a jurisdiction in which it is currently legal (Canada, Connecticut and Massachusetts are all neighboring jurisdictions where same-sex civil marriage is currently legal) then those marriages would be "valid and recognized" in New York.

Law professor and fellow blogger Art Leonard of New York Law School took advantage of this "peculiar situation" in the law to get married on Monday March 30th:

This morning, my partner of 30 years, Tim Nenno, and I were joined in marriage at the Town Hall in Greenwich, CT. We were taking advantage of this peculiar situation now pertaining in our state of residence - New York. Same-sex couples cannot GET married in New York (see Hernandez v. Robles and the the failure of the State Senate to get with the program in 2007 after the Assembly passed the marriage bill), but we can BE married in New York (see Martinez v. County of Monroe and Governor David Paterson's directive to state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages lawfully contracted out of state).

Since the Connecticut Supreme Court (Kerrigan v. State) made it possible to get married within easy commuter rail traffic of New York City, we decided to take advantage of this opportunity in our 30th anniversary month. And it feels good to be able to refer to my partner of so many years as my "husband" and "spouse." Somehow it feels more accurate.

Additionally, Chair of Hunter College's Political Science Department Ken Sherrill and his partner Gerald Otte got married in Toronto, Ontario in 2006. They have been together since 1972 but their marriage and thousands of others are now threatened by the New York Court of Appeals decision to hear the appeal by the homophobic Alliance Defense Fund.

One case, Godfrey v. Spano, stems from the Westchester County executive’s 2006 decision to begin officially honoring out-of-state marriage licenses for gay couples the same way it did for heterosexual couples.

The other case, Lewis v. New York State Department of Civil Service, was filed after the department agreed in 2007 to begin recognizing out-of-state, same-sex marriages for the purpose of extending health insurance to spouses of public employees.

Brian Raum, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said Tuesday that the group believed that the Court of Appeals would reverse the lower courts in both cases.

“We’re confident that we’re on the right side of the law,” he said. “The law in New York states it will not recognize marriages that conflict with public policy in New York. Since New York only recognizes marriage between one man and one woman, for any court to recognize same-sex marriage would be to recognize marriages that run contrary to New York law.”

Seems like this is a good place to watch the Fidelity video from the Courage Campaign's Don't Divorce Us campaign.