08/07/2008
Christian Group Challenges NY Governor Paterson on Gay Marriage
A fundie group is posing a legal challenge to New York Governor David Paterson's directive to state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed outside of the state:
"The Alliance Defense Fund is suing Mr. Paterson, citing an online dictionary's definition of the word "marriage," and claiming that legal recognition of such marriages 'will undermine the democratic process and force taxpayer dollars to fund benefits for same-sex couples.' Other plaintiffs in the suit include the state Assembly's minority leader, James Tedisco, as well assemblymen Daniel Burling and Brian Kolb and senators Martin Golden and Serphin Maltese. 'This isn't about morals or ethics, it's about a legal standard in New York,' a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, Brian Raum, said."
State lawyers today defended Paterson: "They asked a Bronx judge Thursday to dismiss a Christian legal group's argument that the governor is overstepping his authority. The case comes as thousands of gay New York couples are expected to take advantage of a new Massachusetts law letting them wed there."
Said Lambda Legal's litigator Susan Sommer: "This case is really just the Alliance Defense Fund piling on one more nuisance case, when the issue's already been effectively passed over."
Posted 5:25 PM EST by Andy Towle in Gay Marriage, New York, News | Permalink
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Wrong! It is about morals - small-minded, biogted ones. Give me a break! They actually quoted the dictionary in their brief?! I'm surprised that one hasn't been tried before. So, dictionaries deserve legal protection but flesh and blood human beings don't?!
Posted by: Tom | Aug 7, 2008 5:01:05 PM
They should enact a law saying the losing party of a civil case should pay all court costs. How much do want to bet that would make the fundies second guess all their frivolous lawsuits?
Posted by: MT | Aug 7, 2008 5:22:36 PM
And while they're at it they should make a law that any faith-based group has no right to challenge laws. They have no authority here. Maybe we should start enforcing the separation of church and state.
Posted by: MT | Aug 7, 2008 5:24:20 PM
and they didn't even cite the dictionary CORRECTLY!
From the m-w dictionary online (today):
Main Entry: mar·riage
Pronunciation: \ˈmer-ij, ˈma-rij\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English mariage, from Anglo-French, from marier to marry
Date: 14th century
1 a (1): the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law (2): the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage b: the mutual relation of married persons : wedlock c: the institution whereby individuals are joined in a marriage
Posted by: AggieCowboy | Aug 7, 2008 5:40:46 PM
The "undermine the democratic process" by "[forcing] taxpayer dollars to fund benefits for same-sex couples" is a fallacious argument. What about the prevalent forcing of taxpayer dollars to fund benefits of marriage in the first place? (Especially if the taxpayer doesn't plan on marrying?)
This is a slippery-slope argument that I hope no one falls for. If we follow the reasoning all the way, then taxes would only fund only the things that people want to pay for. But the whole point of taxes is to fund things people wouldn't necessarily pay for if they weren't taxed.
Within the context of gay marriage, it really makes me wonder if we should just remove all financial benefits of marriage and see how much people care then.
Posted by: heist | Aug 7, 2008 6:04:40 PM
It seems to me that the Governor is actually upholding the constitution. The full faith and credit clause covers marriages conducted in other states to be recognized in all other states. Since NY doesn't have a law stating that only marriage between a man and a woman will be recognized the Governor is actually following the law. Several states have different ages for marriages, but those would not be denied. What about marriage between cousins? different in other states but would be recognized. If DOMA wasn't unconstitutionally enacted, none of this would be an issue. The strict constitutionalists should be up in arms about this, if they weren't afraid of us big bad gay folks.
Posted by: Don | Aug 7, 2008 10:42:06 PM
Are saying that gay folks don't pay taxes? Or are we eligible for some tax cuts that I didn't know about?
Posted by: YvesPaul | Aug 8, 2008 10:00:11 AM
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Posted by: jack sparrow | Aug 19, 2008 1:08:53 AM