|
(New York City) In legal arguments filed Tuesday
with New York State's highest court, the Court of Appeal, Lambda Legal argues
that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples is unconstitutional.
The court is expected to hear oral arguments in
the case later this year.
The case involves five gay and lesbian couples
from Manhattan who were denied marriage licenses in New York City.
Last December an appeals court overturned a lower
court ruling that found the ban on gay marriage was illegal. (story)
In a 4-1 ruling the appellate judges said that
New York City judge Doris Ling-Cohan erred in overturning the gay marriage
ban.
"We find it even more troubling that the
court, upon determining the statute to be unconstitutional, proceeded to rewrite
it and purportedly create a new constitutional right," the four majority
justices said.
In her ruling Ling-Cohan said the state's ban on
gay marriage was not only unconstitutional but also that the New York City clerk
may not deny a marriage license solely because a couple is of the same sex. (story)
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg appealed Ling-Cohan's
decision and Lambda in turn appealed the appellate decision.
"We knew all along that this issue
would have to be decided by the state's highest court," said Susan Sommer,
Senior Counsel at Lambda Legal and lead attorney on the case.
"The Court of
Appeals is the ultimate guardian of constitutional rights in New York. We hope
it will soon end discrimination against same-sex couples who want to marry. For
these families, it's a matter of simple fairness."
Today's brief states, in part, that,
"This appeal is about far more than abstract legal principles. At heart, it
concerns real New York families who share the same love and day-to-day journey
together through life that binds married couples."
The lawsuit seeks marriage for same-sex couples in New York and
argues that denying these couples marriage violates the state constitution's
guarantees of equality, liberty and privacy for all New Yorkers. With the
case now at the state's highest
court, Lambda Legal and Empire State Pride Agenda launched a statewide
Marriage Awareness Tour for Equality, called MATE. It
will feature some of the plaintiffs in the case explaining the harms caused by excluding
same-sex couples from marriage. More MATE events are scheduled throughout the
state in the weeks and months ahead. This
is the first of several lawsuits in New York challenging the ban on same-sex
marriage and the first to reach the high court. Lambda,
and other LGBT rights groups have filed similar cases seeking marriage for same-sex couples in
California,
Washington, New Jersey and Iowa. A
decision from the Washington Supreme Court is imminent, and oral arguments for the New Jersey case will take place on
February 15.
©365Gay.com 2006
|
Entertainment
