Dear Friend,

By now you may have heard the bad news out of New York. Going against the majority of New Yorkers who support marriage for same-sex couples, the New York Court of Appeals ruled 4-2 that "the New York Constitution does not compel recognition of marriages between members of the same sex."

http://www.courts.state.ny.us/ctapps/decisions/jul06/86-89opn06.pdf

Using mind-bending logic, the Court of Appeals stated that the legislature could rationally believe that it is more important to support stability in opposite sex relationships than in same-sex relationships. For example:

"The Legislature could find that unstable relationships between people of the opposite sex present a greater danger that children will be born into or grow up in unstable homes than is the case with same-sex couples, and thus that promoting stability in opposite sex relationships will help children more."

The Court of Appeals further states that the legislature could rationally believe that it is better for children to grow up with both a mother and a father, arguing:

"Intuition and experience suggest that a child benefits from having before his or her eyes, every day, living models of what both a man and a woman are like...Plaintiffs, and amici supporting them, argue that the proposition asserted is simply untrue: that a home with two parents of different sexes has no advantage, from the point of view of raising children, over a home with two parents of the same sex. Perhaps they are right, but the Legislature could rationally think otherwise."

Apparently, undefined "intuition and experience" are more important than the opinions of mainstream child welfare experts, who all have stated that children raised by same-sex couples fare just as well as children raised by same-sex couples. The American Academy of Pediatrics, in fact, just came out with an extensive statement supporting marriage for same-sex couples because of its benefit to children: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/118/1/349

Chief Justice Judith Kaye, who wrote a well-reasoned and articulated dissenting opinion, debunked this argument, stating:

"Marriage is about much more than producing children, yet same-sex couples are excluded from the entire spectrum of protections that come with civil marriage – purportedly to encourage other people to procreate. Indeed, the protections that the State gives to couples who do marry – such as the right to own property as a unit or to make medical decisions for each other – are focused largely on the adult relationship, rather than on the couple's possible role as parents. Nor does the plurality even attempt to explain how offering only heterosexuals the right to visit a sick loved one in the hospital, for example, conceivably furthers the State's interest in encouraging opposite-sex couples to have children, or indeed how excluding same-sex couples from each of the specific legal benefits of civil marriage – even apart from the totality of marriage itself – does not independently violate plaintiffs' rights to equal protection of the laws."

Today's decision leaves New York's lesbian and gay couples and their children out in the cold to fend for themselves and without the support that government gives all other families through marriage for things like inheritance, child custody, health insurance coverage, pension benefits, Workers Compensation and joint adoption. This is far from the end of the battle for New York's lesbian and gay families. Just because the court has not required the legislature to act does not mean that the legislature should neglect its duty to do the right thing for lesbian and gay couples and their children, and our counterpart organization, the Empire State Pride Agenda, will not give up its fight for equality under the law for all New York families.

Here in Maryland, Equality Maryland and the ACLU are preparing for our own equal marriage rights lawsuit to move forward, eventually to our Court of Appeals. I share Judge Kaye's confidence and believe that our Maryland courts will not make the same misstep but will stand on the side of equality and fairness.

In partnership and equality,

Dan Furmansky
Executive Director

P.S. Equality Maryland can’t win without your help! Please consider making a donation today to support our ambitious plan to win marriage. Click here to donate.