Lambda Legal Vows Legal Action if Needed To Ensure Compliance With NY Attorney General's Order that Gay Couples Married Elsewhere Are Legally Married in NY

(New York, Wednesday, March 3, 2004) - The Attorney General of New York State said today that same-sex couples who validly married elsewhere are legally married throughout the state, and Lambda Legal vowed to take legal action if any local governments refuse to comply with the law.

Attorney General Elliott Spitzer issued an advisory to local officials saying they should not authorize or solemnize marriages of same-sex couples themselves, though he did not say whether it’s constitutional to deny such marriages. But in the first statewide clarification of its kind in the nation, Spitzer made it clear that couples who have legally married in Canada, San Francisco, Portland, Oregon, or elsewhere are also married under New York law and must be given all of the rights and protections of marriage in the state.

“This is a tremendous breakthrough for lesbian and gay couples and their families,” said David Buckel, Marriage Project Director at Lambda Legal. “The bottom line is that same-sex couples all over New York are married, and the state’s top legal authority has made it clear that their marriages are no different than anyone else’s.”

For months, Lambda Legal has been working with more than 100 couples - in every major city in the state -- who married in Canada and need to be legally respected as married couples in New York. Along with other groups, Lambda Legal will now work with local governments in the state to make sure that they are complying with the Attorney General’s directive.

“Lesbian and gay couples who married elsewhere are entitled to all of the protections and benefits that marriage provides,” Buckel said. “If a city or county doesn’t comply with this, they’ll be on the wrong side of state law and we intend to take them to court so that couples are treated equally.”

Buckel said city, county and state employees will be impacted by today’s directive because they are entitled to employment benefits as married couples. Married lesbian and gay couples will also benefit from having their family ties with each other or their children fully respected, and from receiving equal treatment as married couples at hospitals and businesses.

“We’ll be working with mayors and other officials around the state so that they make it clear to businesses in their community that these married couples need to be legally respected. Ithaca has already shown fantastic leadership on this with an announcement earlier this week,” Buckel said. “We’ve always known that communities are stronger when gay couples are treated equally, and today we continue the work of putting that into action all across New York.”

One couple, Wayne Steinman and Sal Iacullo who live in Staten Island, NY, and have been together for more than 30 years, married in Canada a few months ago. “I am so thankful that Sal and I took the plunge and went to Canada to get married,” Stenman said. “The Attorney General’s action today will protect us for years to come and secures a safe future for our daughter, Hope. As always - but especially today - it’s a great day to be a New Yorker.”

Last summer, two Canadian provinces began marrying same-sex couples, and last month San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to lesbian and gay couples. Today, same-sex couples are lining up in Portland, Oregon, to receive marriage licenses from the county clerk’s office. Lambda Legal is currently representing seven same-sex couples in a lawsuit in state court in New Jersey seeking marriage licenses under the New Jersey Constitution.

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Contact:
Fred Shank, 212/809-8585 ext. 267