Gay Marriage No… Divorce Yes in New York

(365 Gay.com, by 365gay Newscenter Staff, 3/31/09)

(Binghamton, New York) Gays and lesbians may not be able to get married in New York – but they can get divorced.

In what is believed to be the first ruling on the issue of gay divorce in the state, a judge in Binghamton, New York has granted a divorce to a lesbian couple.

Justice Molly R. Fitzgerald based her ruling on an executive order issued last May by Gov. David Paterson recognizing the marriages of New York gay and lesbian couples who had gone outside the state to wed. The order directed state agencies to revise their policies.

Lauren Wells and Shari Weiss were married in August 2004, in Toronto Canada where same-sex marriage is legal. But in granting the divorce, Fitzgerald did not allow a division of property. The couple had purchased a home together prior to Paterson’s executive order. At the time they were not entitled to sign the title with equal rights of possession. The mortgage was held by Weiss.

Outside court, the women through their attorneys agreed that Wells would remain in the house for six months, after which it would be the sole property of Weiss. In 2006, the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, ruled that same-sex couples do not have a constitutional right to marry. It said that the issue, however, could be taken up by the legislature.

Legislation that would allow same-sex couples to marry in New York State passed the Assembly in 2007 but the then-GOP controlled Senate refused to take up the bill. The measure is expected to be reintroduced in the Assembly this year. Gov. David Paterson (D) has said if a marriage equality bill came to his desk he would sign it.

The bill, however, is unlikely to be advanced in the Senate. State Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith (D) has said he does not have the votes.

NOM is on the move — help us stop them before next week’s hearing!

How dare they?

This morning we awoke to learn that NOM has begun its radio campaign meant to diminish our fight for marriage equality. Their message hopes to intimidate your legislators prior our February 26 bill hearing and to spread incorrect information about where Rhode Island really stands on marriage.

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO RUN COUNTER-ADS. We cannot depend upon funding from national partners for this effort, especially given such short notice.

If you agree that NOM’s outrageous (ab)use of children in this ad personifies everything that is wrong with our opponents, ACT NOW BY MAKING A DONATION.

Just $10 from everyone who reads this blast could buy enough air time to take us through the next 7 days.

More than $10 means that we can influence an even greater number of radio listeners on many stations.

You acted in the face of Prop 8 — and now it is time to do so again. Please, IMMEDIATELY, help MERI to do this work on your behalf. Log into our secure online giving site at http://donate.marriageequalityri.org/.

And in the message line, write the name of someone you want to honor with your donation. We’ll publish them on our blog.

NJ Marriage Poll: 48% support marriage equality

A new Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll suggests that 48% of New Jersey residents favor full marriage equality, with only 43% opposed (and the rest not knowing/caring/cognizant of where they are). Additionally, the shows that a firm 50% oppose a constitutional ban on same-sex unions, with only 41% willing to mar the state’s most precious governing document with bias:

NJ Divided on Same-Sex Marriage [Monmouth Polling]

Everywhere the poll numbers continue to show that the public understands and supports marriage equality. New Jersey is very close to having full marriage equality and their poll numbers are lower than RI. Nearly half of Rhode Island’s voters (49 percent) favor marriage rights for same-sex couples, compared to 37 percent who oppose marriage equality.

Come to the State House next Thursday and let the Senate Judiciary Committee know it is time to start supporting their constituents.

h/t Good As You

POLL RESULTS: Most Rhode Islanders Favor Same-Sex Marriage

by Joe Siegel, EDGE New England Editor

The majority of Rhode Islanders continue to support marriage equality for same-sex couples, according to the results of a poll commissioned by Marriage Equality Rhode Island (MERI). The results were announced at a Thursday afternoon press conference held in the rotunda at the Statehouse in Providence.

Nearly half of the state’s voters (49 percent) favor marriage rights for same-sex couples, compared to 37 percent who oppose marriage equality. This support has remained stable since 2006 when voters backed same-sex marriage 45 percent to 39 percent. Political candidates for the state legislature have little to fear regarding their position on the issue. Only 26 percent of the poll’s respondents said a candidate’s stance on same-sex marriage is very important in their choice of candidate.

State legislators and clergy spoke in support for marriage equality. Rev. Gene Dyszlewski, the Pastor of Riverside Congregational United Church of Christ, serves as the chairperson of the Rhode Island Religious Coalition for Marriage Equality, an organization of over 100 religious leaders in the state who have signed a declaration affirming that same-sex marriage is in God’s plan for humanity.

“I believe that same-sex marriage is God’s will,” said Dyszlewski. “As religious leaders, we are here to remind the legislators that for them this is not a religious issue. It is improper, for those who hold public office, to impose their religious view on anyone or to impose any one religious view on everyone. It is the duty of those who hold public office to remain theologically neutral in deciding civil rights, relationships and responsibilities.”

State Senator Joshua Miller (D-Cranston), a co-sponsor of marriage equality legislation, does not believe civil unions are the answer to providing basic rights for same-gender couples. “Anything less than full marriage equality is discrimination,” Miller noted. “This is about your friends, neighbors, and relatives being discriminated against.”

State Rep. Art Handy (D-Cranston) said granting same-sex couples the right to marry was “a matter of fairness”. Handy said he had witnessed an increase in support for marriage equality legislation among his colleagues.

Richard Corso appeared alongside his partner Don Laliberte. The couple, who own a house in Providence, have been together for nine years. “Our relationship is no different than any other couple’s,” Corso said. “However we are denied the recognition heterosexual couples can take for granted. This is not just about the more than one thousand legal rights afforded to married couples, but denied to same sex couples. It is also about the validity of the love we share with each other, and the family we have formed. Our love is real. Our relationship is valid.”

A rally dubbed “Open Your Heart to Equality” was held following the press conference, and featured representatives from several GLBT organizations speaking in support of marriage equality.

NOTE: Rep. Art Handy has sponsored marriage equality legislation for SEVEN YEARS. Send him and Sen. Josh Miller your thanks by clicking above.

Marriage Equality and Lincoln

Evan Wolfson, Executive director of Freedom to Marry and author of Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People’s Right to Marry, has a new article up on Huffington Post about marriage equality and Lincoln. It’s an interesting read, both for the purported historical tibits and for the conversation about courage and conviction when pushing forward what is right.

“Lincoln’s strongest connection to the freedom to marry cause lies in the values he embodied in his life, and embodies in ours. He was committed to equality, freedom, and lifting people up. He called Americans to the “better angels of our nature,” and he combined a deep moral integrity with a determined and strategic focus on achieving what is most important and right.

In the wake of last November’s Proposition 8 temporarily halting marriages in California, and with marriage equality shimmering within reach in other states such as New York and New Jersey, gay and non-gay people and organizations across the country will spend Freedom to Marry Week asking our fellow citizens to, in Lincoln’s words, “think anew” about how exclusion from marriage harms gay families while helping no one. Freedom to Marry Week in this Lincoln bicentennial year recalls his admonition, “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE

For some original Lincoln photos, take a look at the Library of Congress Flickr Stream

Illinois Scheduled to Hear Marriage Bill

Openly gay Illinois state Rep. Greg Harris has proposed a new bill that would allow same-sex couples to marry in Illinois. The bill, scheduled to be discussed today in the state legislature, will first be presented to the Youth and Family Committee.

Despite expecting many same-sex couples to appear before the committee in support of the bill, Harris admits there are challenges in getting the bill to a vote in the house.

365 Gay reports:
Two years ago, a civil union bill introduced by Harris died when the session ended and conservative groups already have made it known they will fight the marriage bill. They’ve work to push for a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage they hope will make it to the ballot in 2010.

The marriage bill, officially called the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act would “provide eligible same-sex and opposite-sex couples with the same treatment as those in a civil marriage.” The bill also makes it clear that no church would be required to perform or recognize same-sex marriages.

The legislation currently has four co-sponsors. Harris said that he hopes that even if the measure fails to gain traction this year, the debate will help advance it in the future. In 2007 Harris’ civil union bill, called the Religious Freedom and Civil Union Act passed the House Human Services Committee but then languished until the session ended in January.

h/t GayPolitics.com

Lesbian Couple to Marry Atop the Empire State Building

Once a year, Valentine’s Day, the Empire State Building opens its doors to weddings and in celebration of the day Brides.com invited 14 couples to be married there. What’s different this year? One of the couples is a lesbian couple, who despite the inability to currently marry in the state, will be holding a commitment ceremony along side the other 13 couples.

From Brides.com Profile
Jessica and Natalie met in 2005 while they were students at Smith College in Northampton, Mass. The two often visited Natalie’s sister in New York while they were dating and dreamed of one day moving to the city themselves. Now the couple reside in Brooklyn, where they have shared some of their most romantic moments within view of the Empire State Building.

Congratulations ladies!

Lamda Legal Argues Same-Sex Hospital Visitation Lawsuit

Miami Hospital Tries To Block Lawsuit In Hospital Visitation Case

It’s hard to believe that in this day a hospital will block someone from seeing their partner, especially when all of the medical powers of attorney paperwork are in place and properly signed and notarized. It’s harder still to believe that such a hospital would continue to defend its inhuman policies.

The case began in February 2007, when Janice Langbehn and her partner Lisa Marie Pond, with three of their four children, were in Miami, Florida preparing for a cruise to celebrate their eighteenth anniversary. But before the cruise could leave port, Lisa Marie suffered a massive stroke and was taken to Jackson Memorial. Hospital personnel refused to let Langbehn into Pond’s hospital room, even after a legal power of attorney was faxed to the hospital. Pond was pronounced dead of a brain aneurysm about eighteen hours after being admitted to the hospital. The only time Langbehn was allowed to see her partner was when a priest was giving her last rites.

Read the Story, Box Turtle Bulletin

NJ Court Recognizes Canadian Marriage for Purpose of Divorce

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Gay marriages performed outside New Jersey are recognized in the state for the purpose of divorce, according to a ruling Friday by a judge deciding whether a lesbian couple married in Canada can split.

The wider implications weren’t immediately clear, but Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson said New Jersey has a long history of recognizing marriages that are valid where they were performed.

The state doesn’t let gays marry but does allow civil unions. The state Supreme Court has ruled that gay couples have the rights to the same legal standing as married heterosexual couples.

Read the full Story

Wyoming House Votes Down Constituional Same-Sex Marriage Ban

The AP is reporting that the Wyoming House determined today anti-gay constitutional marriage amendment would not be placed on the ballot.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – The Wyoming House has voted down a bill that would have allowed Wyoming voters to decide whether to amend the state constitution to deny state recognition of same-sex marriages.

Rep. Owen Petersen, R-Lyman, sponsored House Joint Resolution 17. It failed by a vote of 35-25 after frequently emotional debate that lasted more than an hour on Friday.

In additional good news, the House defeated, by the same 35-25 margin, a ban on recognizing out of state same-sex marriages. Currently, Wyoming law specifies that marriages performed there must be between a man and a woman, but states that the state must recognize all marriages performed in other states.

This is encouraging news, as Republicans have a 41 to 19 majority over Democrats in the House. Protecting and respecting all families is not and should not be a partisan issue.

h/t Box Turtle Bulletin