New York Must Recognize Out-Of-State Same-Sex Marriages

Gay couples who were legally wed in Massachusetts, California and Canada will be afforded same rights as 'any other legally performed union.'

One day before California became the second state in the nation to legalize gay marriage, New York Governor David Paterson directed all state agencies to begin updating their regulations to recognize same-sex marriages that have been legally performed in Massachusetts, California, Canada and elsewhere.

According to The New York Times, Paterson issued the directive on May 14, less than 24 hours before the Supreme Court of California struck down that state’s ban on gay marriage. The new rule in New York, which came from the governor's legal counsel, David Nocenti, tells state agencies that gay couples married outside the state "should be afforded the same recognition as any other legally performed union." The revisions to the code could cover more than 1,300 regulations in New York on everything from joint filing on tax returns to the transfer of fishing licenses between spouses.

Paterson delivered a videotaped message to gay community leaders at a dinner on May 17, in which he described the decision as "a strong step toward marriage equality." Gay-rights advocates and opponents both see the measure as the first step toward the state fully legalizing same-sex unions.

"Very shortly, there will be hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, and probably thousands and thousands and thousands of gay people who have their marriages recognized by the state," said Democratic Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell, who has pushed for legalization of gay unions, according to the paper.

For now, Massachusetts and California are the only states that have legalized gay marriage, though Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Vermont allow civil unions. Forty-one other states have passed laws limiting marriage to unions between a man and a woman. It is expected that the new regulations in New York will take effect by mid-June, unless a court grants a stay.