Lambda Legal Lauds Governor Spitzer's Bill Opening Marriage to Same-Sex Couples in New York

(New York, April 27, 2007)—New York Governor Elliot Spitzer today introduced a bill allowing same-sex couples in New York access to marriage. Lambda Legal Senior Counsel Susan Sommer, who argued the lawsuit seeking marriage for same-sex couples in New York, said the following:

"Lambda Legal applauds Governor Spitzer's leadership in treating all New Yorkers fairly.

"We expect the Legislature to give the marriage bill the full attention and serious deliberation it deserves. Over the course of our lawsuit on behalf of same-sex couples in New York who sought to marry, we met heterosexual New Yorkers throughout the state who were moved by our clients' experiences and came to see that it is only fair that loving, committed same-sex couples have the same opportunity to marry as others enjoy. All but one of the jurisdictions that border our state recognize and protect relationships between same-sex couples. It is high time that New York value all families who choose to call New York home by passing this bill.

"Lambda Legal is also pleased to learn that the New York State Department of Civil Service (NYDCS) has decided to follow well established New York law that respects marriages validly performed in jurisdictions outside our state. NYDCS's new policy will alleviate unfair burdens shouldered by same-sex couples who have been excluded from the benefits they earned as dedicated government employees."

Lambda Legal filed its landmark lawsuit, Hernandez v. Robles, in March 2004 seeking marriage licenses for same-sex couples in New York, arguing that denying them marriage violates the state constitution's guarantees of equality, liberty and privacy for all New Yorkers. The Court of Appeals, the highest court in New York, issued its decision against our plaintiffs on July 6, 2006.

Lambda Legal has been working with Empire State Pride Agenda and the ACLU to increase public understanding and support for same-sex couples seeking to marry in New York. According to a poll conducted in March by Global Research Group on behalf of Empire State Pride Agenda, 53% of New Yorkers support marriage for same-sex couples in the Empire State. In May 2004, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to open marriage to same-sex couples. A Boston Globe poll taken in March 2005 found that 56% of people in Massachusetts now favor marriage for same-sex couples. This percentage is nearly a mirror image of the 53% of people in the Bay State who had opposed such marriages just a year earlier in February 2004, before couples of the same sex could legally wed there. Spain, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands and South Africa have adopted marriage equality for same-sex couples as the law of the land.

Susan Sommer, Senior Counsel for Lambda Legal, was lead counsel on Hernandez v. Robles. Jeffrey S. Trachtman and Norman Simon of Kramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel of New York were cooperating counsel.

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Lisa Hardaway:  212-809-8585 ext. 266; lhardaway@lambdalegal.org

Jackie Yodashkin: 212-809-8585 ext. 229; jyodashkin@lambdalegal.org

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.