Nassau County Mask Ban Signed into Law
Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union and New York Civil Liberties Union today filed a brief in a New York appeals court asking the court to strike down a New York law that bars lesbian and gay couples and their families from the protections of marriage. Religious leaders, civil rights advocates and women's groups also announced their support for marriage for same-sex couples through friend-of-the-court briefs filed this week.
"New York has a long history of respecting and protecting the right to create families free from discrimination," said Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. "With New York trial courts now split over the issue of marriage for same-sex couples, we are looking to the state's appellate courts to end the unfairness that lesbian and gay couples face because they are unable to secure the protections of marriage for their families."
The brief was filed today in the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department on behalf of 13 same-sex couples, many of whom had hoped to be married by New Paltz Mayor Jason West, but were unable to do so after he was forced to stop performing marriages for same-sex couples. The ACLU brought the lawsuit with the NYCLU and the law firm Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP. The brief charges that New York law banning gay people from marriage violates the equal protection, due process and free expression provisions of the New York constitution.
"As more and more New Yorkers realize that lesbian and gay couples and their families suffer real, practical harms when they are denied the protections of marriage, they understand that this is a basic issue of fairness. The New York Constitution, after all, guarantees equal treatment," said Roberta Kaplan of Paul Weiss. "Although the other side tries to frame this as a 'fringe issue,' the fact that so many religious, civil rights and professional organizations are coming forward to file briefs on our behalf shows the growing public awareness that all families – gay and straight – are entitled to the same kinds of protections."
Nine friend-of-the-court briefs, representing a broad range of support for marriage for same-sex couples, were filed this week in support of the ACLU/NYCLU lawsuit. These included:
Oral arguments in the case are expected to take place sometime in October 2005.
For a copy of the ACLU's brief and the nine friend-of-the-court briefs filed in support of Samuels and Gallagher, et. al., v. New York Department of Health, please visit www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRights/LesbianGayRights.cfm?ID-15438&c=101.