Another New York Court Upholds Recognition of Valid Lesbian and Gay Couples’ Marriages

A New York State Supreme Court today ruled that Gov. David Paterson’s May memo telling state agencies to recognize the marriages of lesbian and gay couples performed in other states and countries is legal. The decision relied heavily on a landmark New York Civil Liberties Union victory in the case Martinez v. County of Monroe.

“This is a victory for fairness and a victory for the rule of law,” said Donna Lieberman, NYCLU executive director. “When the governor issued his memo, he was just doing what any civil servant should do – following the law.”

In May, Paterson directed all state agencies to follow the law and revise their policies to recognize marriages of same-sex couples performed in other jurisdictions, which include Massachusetts, California and Canada. Though Paterson’s memo made headlines, many state agencies and municipalities have had such policies for years.

In her opinion, Justice Lucy Billings said, “…when partners manifest the commitment to their relationship and family, by solemnizing that commitment elsewhere, through one of life’s most significant events, and come to New York, whether returning home or setting down roots, to carry on that commitment, nothing is more antithetical to family stability than requiring them to abandon that solemnized commitment […] The emotional, familial, financial, and legal stability that accompanies marriage establishes a strong presumption in favor of the marriage’s continued validity.”

Both the governor’s memo and today’s legal victory relied upon a February NYCLU victory in the case Martinez v. County of Monroe in which an appeals court unanimously agreed that the time-honored “marriage-recognition rule” applies to the valid out-of-state marriages of lesbian and gay couples. This long-established legal principle requires New York State to recognize marriages solemnized outside the state.

That victory was the basis for an NYCLU suit against a Buffalo-based insurance company, which has since amended its policy to make married same-sex couples eligible for spousal health care, and the NYCLU’s recent advocacy in Otsego County, where the Board of Representatives nullified the county treasurer’s decision to categorically exclude all same-sex couples from spousal health care eligibility under the county-funded plan.

Today’s decision from the Supreme Court marks the fourth time within the last two years that the Alliance Defense Fund, the organization that filed the lawsuit against the governor, has lost a case challenging the recognition of same-sex couples’ valid out-of-state marriages. The Arizona-based group lost in March of 2007 when it challenged Westchester County for granting spousal benefits to public employees in out-of-state same-sex marriages (Godfrey v. Spano); it lost last September when it challenged the state comptroller’s office for offering retirement benefits to lesbian and gay couples married out of state (Godfrey v. DiNapoli); and, in addition to today’s loss, it lost in March of this year when it challenged the Department of Civil Service for recognizing valid out of state marriages for lesbian and gay couples for spousal health care and insurance (Lewis v. Department of Civil Service).