Commentary: The Confusing State of Gay Marriage in New York and Elsewhere

Link: The Huffington Post
by Edward Stein

Excerpt:
On May 6, New York's highest court handed down the latest decision in battle for the legal recognition of same-sex relationships. Its decision in Martinez v. County of Monroe, which was misunderstood by several commentators, let stand a dramatic but little discussed February ruling of a lower appellate court that said New York will recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions. For the moment, same-sex couples in New York have a possible path to full relationship recognition in their home state, an exciting development. At the same time, New York is left with a bizarre patchwork of recognition and rejection of same-sex unions. While two New York residents of the same sex cannot get married in New York, they may travel to Canada, Belgium, Spain, South Africa, or the Netherlands, where same-sex couples can marry, get married, and, when they come back to New York, the state will fully recognized their marriage from the foreign country. What a strange state of affairs: to have your relationship recognized at home, you have to first travel abroad!

New York is not alone in dealing with same-sex relationships in an odd way. A legally-recognized same-sex couple in one state will get no recognition in other states. Even states that recognize one type of same-sex relationship may not recognize other types. California, for example, allows same-sex couples to become domestic partners, a legal status which entitles them to almost all the rights of marriage, but they are not allowed to get married. The future of this two-track path to relationship recognition in California -- marriage for different-sex couples and domestic partnerships for same-sex couples -- is currently before the California Supreme Court and a decision is expected by early June. If, as some are predicting, the California Supreme Court decides that the California Constitution requires allowing same-sex couples to marry, then this will get rid of some -- but not all -- of the confusion around same-sex unions in California. Even if same-sex couples can get married in California, the United States government will still not recognize their legal union.

[...]

The situation in Michigan is also rather odd in light of a recent court decision on May 7, one day after the Martinez decision in New York. [...] In effect, the Michigan court dissolved a whole class of relationships in an instant.

[...]

Whatever happens in New York over the next few years and in California over the next few weeks, the patchwork of recognition and rejection of same-sex relationship throughout the country will continue for a while. This is a strange state of affairs, but for a while at least, we have to get used to this complicated legal landscape for same-sex couples.

 

[jw]