Victory for Out-of-State Marriages in NY!

A New York trial court judge has held that out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples in New York must be legally respected, just as out-of-state marriages of different-sex couples are respected. In October 2004, then Comptroller Alan Hevesi concluded that the New York State Retirement System must recognize Canadian marriages of same-sex couples. The current Comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, has continued the policy. Last year the Alliance Defense Fund, an antigay group, brought this lawsuit, Godfrey v. DiNapoli, challenging the policy and claiming that it is illegal to respect out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples.

Lambda Legal intervened on behalf of two New York state employees, Peri Rainbow and Tamela Sloan, who were married in Canada. The couple have been together for seven years, and they have a daughter who they adopted out of foster care. They wanted to make sure they would continue to have the important protections they earned for their family under the New York State Retirement System and to defend the respect due their marriage in New York.