Anti-Gay Group Files Suit To Overturn NY's Marriage Equality Law
New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms has filed suit to halt and overturn New York's marriage equality law, the NY Daily News reports:
The group, led by the Rev. Jason J. McGuire (pictured), claims that the state Senate, in adopting the legislation, violated the state’s Open Meetings Law by closing off the Senate galleries and lobby; and by holding closed door meetings with Mayor Bloomberg and others who backed the law.
The group also claims, among other things, that Gov. Cuomo and the Senate ignored the constitutionally mandated three-day waiting period before a bill can be acted upon and that lawmakers approved the legislation in exchange for campaign contributions from Bloomberg and other high profile "Wall Street financiers."
New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, Rev. Jason J. McGuire, Rev. Duane R. Motley and Rabbi Nathaniel S. Leiter are listed as plaintiffs and are represented by the Liberty Counsel.
Said McGuire in a press release:
“Constitutional liberties were violated. Today we are asking the court to intervene in its rightful role as the check and balance on an out-of-control State Legislature. It is unfortunate that state senators chose to protect their personal interests, rather than the people they were elected to represent. Some of the players may have changed, but it looks like same old Albany game. It is time the curtain be pulled back and the disinfecting light of good government shine upon the Cuomo Administration and our State Legislature."




Haters got to hate.
Posted by: ohplease | Jul 25, 2011 12:17:29 PM
These so called "Men of God" need to read the teachings of Jesus when he said to love EVERYONE. Not everyone except...
Posted by: FernLaPlante | Jul 25, 2011 12:17:42 PM
I love these jerks who hate the Activist Judges of the judiciary when it votes against them but run crying to them when they don't get their way in another forum.
Posted by: frank | Jul 25, 2011 12:18:29 PM
The dude in the pic needs to ban KFC for making him a fat sloth.
Posted by: Stephen Victor | Jul 25, 2011 12:22:09 PM
And when the court asks why the complainants have legal standing, what will their answer be?
"But Your Honor, Teh Buutsecks makes Jeebus cry, so we can't allow gays and lesbians to marry!"
SInce the marriages don't harm the complainants in any conceivable way other than hurting their little bitty feelings, I think any judge in New York state will laugh the case out of court.
And the pro-equality forces need to push the court costs to the haters. Plain and simple. AND, they need to start revealing the sources of their funding. Churches getting into political campaigns? Time to revoke their tax-exempt status...!
Posted by: One of the CA 36,000 | Jul 25, 2011 12:25:10 PM
Would someone just shove a cock in Jason's mouth already. I've listened to him speak in a few different interviews and she's a big ole Mary. Self-loathing closet-cases are the worst! Why can't they realize they're just embarrassing themselves. (I'm talking to you too Marcus!)
Posted by: Ron | Jul 25, 2011 12:25:49 PM
Represented by the Liberty Counsel, surprise surprise! Look behind myriad bogus anti-gay law suits, and there they are, attempting to inflict their own brand of Sharia law on the rest of us.
Posted by: Ernie | Jul 25, 2011 12:26:11 PM
I'm sick of these reverends and these rabbis trying to impose their version of Sharia law on us all.
These foul bigots give religion such a bad name.
Posted by: SteveC | Jul 25, 2011 12:28:46 PM
They will be laughed out of court.
Posted by: James | Jul 25, 2011 12:32:49 PM
When the courts declare anti-gay laws unconstitutional these people call them "activist judges" yet when THEY want them to overturn a law, legally passed by a democratically elected legislature and signed by a democratically elected governor, they call on them to do "take their rightful place" to overturn the law.
Good luck with that bigots. Ain't goin nowhere! Every penny spent by these douchebags on these frivolous suits is a penny out of their pockets and a penny not available for them to spend on a cause that might actually hurt us.
Posted by: TampaZeke | Jul 25, 2011 12:35:10 PM
He should sue whoever sold him that ill-fitting suit.
Posted by: prophet | Jul 25, 2011 12:36:53 PM
it is about time all these bigoted religious leaders stick to their own flock and keep out of other people's lives. if churches want to be political in nature they should have to pay taxes. if hate is a religious value i am glad i want no part of it.
Posted by: walter | Jul 25, 2011 12:37:14 PM
The stupid is so thick in that complaint it is painful to read. Seriously, do not worry about this.
Posted by: Glenn | Jul 25, 2011 12:38:55 PM
We knew this was coming. We all knew the haters would try something frivolous and trivial.
Notice that none of the items they have included in their lawsuit are related to religious freedoms. Its all technical items. What a waste of money and time, which is what these hate groups essentially are.
Posted by: Sam | Jul 25, 2011 12:43:00 PM
I find it interesting that a) they didn't file this suit immediately, before marriages started, which would have made it easier for a judge to take the suit seriously and b) they couldn't come up with anything better to take to court than something procedural. It's obviously a money-raising stunt that they themselves know has no chance.
Posted by: Bruno | Jul 25, 2011 12:45:02 PM
Can someone translate the charges into English?
I don't understand whether they are serious or what they mean to us.
Posted by: corvidae | Jul 25, 2011 12:54:13 PM
They say
"the state Senate, in adopting the legislation, violated the state’s Open Meetings Law by closing off the Senate galleries and lobby"
I don't think so. I saw footage of the vote tally and the Senate galleries and the lobby were filled with people who cheered when the vote tally turned out in favor of gay marriage.
"and by holding closed door meetings with Mayor Bloomberg and others who backed the law"
So what? There's nothing illegal about holding closed door meetings with whomever you want, whether they are backers of the law or not.
"Gov. Cuomo and the Senate ignored the constitutionally mandated three-day waiting period before a bill can be acted upon"
And that's never happened before with other bills? Are u sure about that? Cause there were a couple of other bills (one having to do with housing, I think) which got voted at the last minute, right after those 'closed door' consultations. It seems strange to me that they would only attack the gay marriage law on this point and not the other laws passed in this way.
"lawmakers approved the legislation in exchange for campaign contributions from Bloomberg and other high profile "Wall Street financiers"
That's just speculation on their part. I want to see what they say when the judge asks them "where's your evidence for this claim?" I don't imagine them having any hard evidence for this if they haven't been anywhere near those 'closed door' negotiations. This issue aside, they still have to prove what exactly is illegal about passing a bill in the hope that it will generate support and campaign contributions for you. Legislators pass bills in the hope of gathering support all the time. Why are they having an issue with just the marriage bill in particular?
This won't pass the laughing test!
Posted by: Mark | Jul 25, 2011 12:58:15 PM
These counts are ridiculous. New York law provides that if a message of emergency is sent by the governor then the 3-day waiting period is waived. Notice how they haven't filed suit against the other 2 or 3 laws that passed the same day without a waiting period (property tax cap and rent stabilization laws, etc.). Furthermore, there is no law that provides all negotiations need to take place in public. The opposition will make a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and it will never make it past that point. It will be dismissed.
Posted by: Jonathan | Jul 25, 2011 12:59:46 PM
So we've got a couple preachers and a rabbi once again being hateful. What a shock. I'm 100% in favor of revoking tax-exempt status from any religious institutions or their representatives who try to push their viewpoints onto the law books.
Posted by: John | Jul 25, 2011 1:00:53 PM
They probably won't get standing because they weren't an original party. The public access law generally applies to committee work, not backroom vote wrangling. The three day waiting period was satisfied by the period between enactment and the first marriage.
Posted by: anon | Jul 25, 2011 1:02:56 PM
They passed the law legally with bipartisan support, its a done deal, nothing will result from this suit. The worst that will happen is the republicans that voted for it will get voted out the next time the are up for re-election. which I quite frankly can't see happening. People in this state tend to just keep the representatives they have in Albany.
Posted by: Manhattanvince | Jul 25, 2011 1:31:04 PM
McGuire is a nice plump one. He'd render down nicely. Canibals love preacher fat to fry with.
Posted by: Johnny | Jul 25, 2011 1:47:05 PM
That's not the 3-day waiting period they're talking about. I meant "Message of Necessity" above. The law needs to be circulated for three days before it is voted on. If the Governor sends a message of necessity, which he did in this case, then it is waived.
http://law.justia.com/codes/new-york/2006/constitution/cnsa3s14_14.html
Posted by: Jonathan | Jul 25, 2011 1:47:05 PM
We got our marriage license yesterday and our wedding is scheduled next week to accommodate friends and family members.
Inside the courthouse, the mood was joyous and celebratory-- it really felt emotional and historic. Even all the clerks applauded every time a license was issued. Outside the courthouse it was mostly the same, but with a small gaggle of protesters who apparently felt masturbatorily super self-righteous about yelling "sick, sick, sick" at every happy couple who came out of the courthouse, including a number of elderly couples. What kind and loving "Christians," eh?
Never-the-less, they were easy for most people to ignore. On one side of the street was joy and on the other side was petty, vindictive misery. History will not be kind to these haters... it never is.
Posted by: bobbyjoe | Jul 25, 2011 1:53:11 PM
Hate never sleeps. This is disappointing but predictable, just as Brian Brown's bloviations or Maggie's mooings are. Pitiful bigots, your time is running out.
Posted by: Abel | Jul 25, 2011 2:03:15 PM