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Gays, ACLU sue New York over marriage law By KAREN MATTHEWS, AP from timesunion.com on the Web, April 7, 2004 NEW YORK -- Thirteen same-sex couples sued the state of New York on Wednesday, seeking to have the state law that denies gay and lesbian couples the right to marry declared unconstitutional. "This case is about ending the discrimination that is currently written into the marriage laws of New York," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, at a news conference. Plaintiffs include state Assembly member Daniel O'Donnell and his partner of 23 years, John Banta. The NYCLU, the American Civil Liberties Union and a private law firm are representing the plaintiffs. The lawsuit charges that state health regulations defining marriage as being only between a man and a woman violates the state Constitution's equal protection, privacy and due process provisions. The health department and state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer have said that the state prohibits clerks from issuing licenses to same sex couples, but Spitzer has said state laws may be open to a constitutional challenge. Many of the couples at the news conference said they had hoped to be married by New Paltz Mayor Jason West, who now faces misdemeanor charges for officiating at 25 gay weddings. O'Donnell's sister, comedian Rosie O'Donnell, was married at a ceremony in San Francisco in February to her partner, Kelli Carpenter. But O'Donnell said he was born and raised in New York, and "I want to get married here in Manhattan at the Plaza."
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