PROGRESS: Equality on the Horizon

By: CATHY MARINO-THOMAS AND JO-ANN SHAIN
10/30/2008

What a year for Marriage Equality! From Coast to Coast, the tide is turning on this issue!

The issue has seen great progress so far this year. From California to Connecticut, gay and lesbian couples and their families can be heartened by the fact that their marriage rights are now recognized in two, and very soon three, of the states. Others will likely follow. Here is a run down of this year's historic marriage victories:

In New York, on February 1, a state appellate court ruled in Martinez vs. County of Monroe that valid out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples deserve legal recognition in this state. This decision stated that the marriage of Patricia Martinez and Lisa Ann Golden is valid in New York and that their family is entitled to all of the rights, privileges, and responsibilities conferred on married couples by the state. The ruling established a statewide precedent applicable to all LGBT couples who marry legally in other jurisdictions, and dramatically changed the dynamics and landscape of the marriage equality discussion and movement in New York.

LGBT New Yorkers enjoyed another win in May 2008, when Governor David Paterson, pointing to the Martinez ruling, directed all state agencies to begin to revise their policies and regulations to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. Governor Paterson's decision makes New York the only state that does not itself allow gay marriage but fully recognizes same-sex unions entered into elsewhere.

One of the biggest victories for the LGBT community occurred in California when, on May 14, 2008, the State Supreme Court ruled that denying same-sex couples the right to marry violated the California Constitution. This decision marked a monumental moment in the fight for equal rights in this country. History was made on June 16, 2008, at 5:01pm PST, when the first legally recognized same-sex marriages were performed in that state.

In recent weeks, the elation felt by the Golden State's LGBT newlyweds has been replaced by a collective fighting spirit. This is because, in a last ditch effort to ban marriage equality for the foreseeable future in the state, opponents of equal rights have forced a vote on Proposition 8 ("Prop 8") this coming November 4. Prop 8 would place a so-called "Defense of Marriage" provision into state Constitution, banning recognition of same-sex marriages and, thus, invalidating the Supreme Court ruling. The polls show a dead heat in this fight.

Losing this fight in California would considerably damage the quest for marriage equality in other parts of the nation.

Connecticut became the third state to pass marriage equality laws in this country in October 2008. The case, Kerrigan v. the state Commissioner of Public Health, was brought by eight same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses by the Madison town clerk. The plaintiff couples argued that the state's civil union law was discriminatory and unconstitutional because it established a separate and therefore inherently unequal institution for a minority group. Citing equal protection under the law, the Connecticut Supreme Court agreed.

This case is particularly important for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, this is the first time that a state high court has found civil unions to be unequal to marriage; the door is now wide open for other states with civil union laws - such as New Jersey, Vermont, and New Hampshire -to flip to full marriage rights for all families. As activists in this cause for many years, it is our considered opinion that New Jersey and Vermont will follow suit.

The Connecticut decision is also heartening because there is not a strong push to produce a constitutional amendment overturning the ruling in that state.

In New Jersey, nearly 100 couples with civil unions and other came forward at public hearings before the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission to testify to the inequities of civil unions compared to marriage. Their testimony and the resulting Commission report verify what anyone involved with this issue has already known - civil unions are not equal.

Governor Jon Corizone has already stated that he will review the situation in 2009 (some think that could even come after the election, in 2008), and has several times made clear that if a marriage equality bill landed on his desk, he would sign it. It is expected that New Jersey will soon join the ranks of Massachusetts, California, and Connecticut in providing full marriage equality for all families.

Fortunately, in New York State, our governor is on board. And our Assembly passed the marriage equality bill in July 2007 with a vote of 85 - 62. The final frontier in New York State is our State Senate. The majority leadership has stubbornly refused to bring the marriage bill to the floor for a vote. Their lack of positive action on this most fundamental civil right is what stands in the way of full equality for all of New York's gay and lesbian citizens. Civil unions are separate and unequal; marriage is the only truly equal option. We urge the State Senate to do what the Assembly did - pass the marriage equality bill.

New York's LGBT couples and their families have real reasons to be hopeful. The tide is turning in favor of winning marriage rights here in our state. With a good chance that the November election will result in a Democratic majority in the State Senate, 2009 may prove to be a watershed year for achieving full civil rights for all of our state's gay and lesbian citizens.

Cathy Marino-Thomas and Jo-Ann Shain are board members at Marriage Equality New York (marriageequalityny.org), a grassroots advocacy group working for full civil marriage rights in New York.