NY Gay Couples Married In Mass. Have Weddings Validated

Estimated to be in the hundreds, same-sex couples from New York state who were married in Massachusetts between May 17, 2004 and July 6, 2006, have now had those marriages declared legal.

Same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts on May 17, 2004 and along with couples from the Bay State hundreds of gay and lesbian couples from across the country traveled to Massachusetts to marry. But within a week then-Gov. Mitt Romney invoked a 1913 law that said marriage licenses could not be issued to couples whose weddings would be illegal in the states where they lived.

Last year the Massachusetts Supreme Court upheld the law in a case involving same-sex couples from neighboring states but questioned whether couples from Rhode Island and New York were excepted because those states did not have specific legislation banning gay marriage.
The marriages also are considered valid in New York state.

In 2004 then-NY Attorney General Elliott Spitzer issued a written legal opinion that same-sex marriages valid in areas of the world where they are legal must be considered legal in New York. Following the Massachusetts ruling the current NY Attorney General, Andrew M Cuomo, said he concurred with Spitzer's assessment.

Meanwhile, Spitzer, who is now NYS governor, last month introduced legislation to allow same-sex couples to marry in New York. The move is opposed by Republicans who control the Senate, and is unlikely to pass in this session of the Legislature.

A growing number of public and private entities in New York are respecting legal out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples.

On April 27, the New York State Department of Civil Service became the latest entity to do so when it announced that any state or local employee married to a same-sex spouse will now have access to spousal benefits provided through the New York State Health Insurance Plan.