Geico Car Insurance Inconsistently Recognizes Gay Couples Marriages; Lambda Legal Asks Insurer To Obey NY Law and Cover All Married Gay Couples Equally

(New York, June 14, 2004) - Lambda Legal today urged Geico Insurance Company of New York to comply with state law and respect valid marriages of all same-sex couples in determining car insurance rates and coverages. Over the past few months, Geico has recognized the marriages of some same-sex couples and denied recognition to others.

Two New York couples, who are working with Lambda Legal and pay for Geico auto insurance coverage, have been treated unequally by the insurance giant. Both of the couples were married in Canada. Martin Farach-Colton and his spouse recently received written confirmation from the statewide underwriter that their marriage would be respected by Geico and the two men could share Farach-Colton’s policy just like any married heterosexual couple. But Geico refused to recognize the marriage of Thomas Hroncich and his spouse, which could require the couple to pay hundreds of dollars more annually in premiums to receive the same level of insurance coverage.

“New York law says that marriages validly performed elsewhere must be respected here. Geico is breaking the law by denying Mr. Hroncich and his spouse benefits that the insurer provides to its other married policyholders. Geico must stop its practice of randomly recognizing some married gay or lesbian couples, but not all of its married gay or lesbian policyholders,” said Alphonso David, Lambda Legal Staff Attorney.

Earlier this year, Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit against New York City on behalf of five same-sex couples seeking marriage licenses. The case was the first of its kind to be filed in New York since the Massachusetts high court ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to full marriage under that state’s Constitution.

“Because same-sex couples currently cannot marry in New York, employers, service providers and other organizations must take the necessary steps to ensure that they are not breaking the law on recognizing out-of-state marriages,” David said.

According the U.S. Census in 2000, New York City has the largest percentage of same-sex households of any city in the country, with 8.9% of the country’s households where gay couples live together; statewide, the 2000 Census counted 46,490 same-sex couples throughout New York State. City and state law provides minimal protections and rights to same-sex couples.

Other than Massachusetts no state allows same-sex couples to marry, although three Canadian providences now fully sanction marriage for same-sex couples. For a period of time this year, San Francisco, Portland, New Paltz and (briefly) Sandoval County, New Mexico, also married same-sex couples. Thirty-eight states explicitly ban same-sex couples from marrying or have laws refusing to respect marriages from other states. New York is not among those states. An amendment to the federal Constitution that has been proposed and introduced in Congress would ban marriage between same-sex couples and could also block other protections for couples. That amendment has ignited controversy even among some conservatives because of its breadth and because of the extreme nature of amending the nation’s founding document.

Besides the case for marriage in New York, Lambda Legal is also currently litigating marriage cases in New Jersey, California (with the ACLU, National Center for Lesbian Rights and Equality California), and Washington (with the Northwest Women’s Law Center).

David is Lambda Legal’s lead attorney handling the matter with Geico Insurance Company.

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