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N.Y. Judge Rules Gay Couples May Not WedBy AP from the NYTimes on the Web, December 8, 2004
The
couples' lawsuit had charged that state health regulations defining marriage as
being only between a man and a woman violate the state Constitution's equal
protection, privacy and due process provisions. The
health department and state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer have said
Judge Joseph Teresi dismissed the couples' arguments. Plaintiffs include state Assembly member Daniel O'Donnell and his partner of 23 years, John Banta. "There is a legitimate state interest in granting marriage licenses only to opposite sex couples," Teresi wrote. The
lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the couples,
was one of nine civil and criminal cases filed this year in
Appeals were promised in both cases.
"We believe that once the appeals courts are given the opportunity to see how same-sex couples are harmed when they are denied access to the protections of marriage, they will agree that the state can no longer discriminate in this way," said Donna Lieberman of the New York Civil Liberties Union. There was no immediate comment from the state. Mathew Staver of the conservative legal group Liberty Counsel called the ruling "a great victory for traditional marriage." A flurry of lawsuits were filed after New Paltz Mayor Jason West performed a series of gay weddings in February. |
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