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Contact: Colleen Roche
Linden
Alschuler & Kaplan, PR
croche@lakpr.com
212-329-1413
June 20, 2009
STATE BAR ASSOCIATION ENDORSES CIVIL MARRIAGE TO
PROVIDE FULL EQUALITY TO SAME-SEX COUPLES & FAMILIES
(Cooperstown, New York) – The New York State Bar
Association’s House of Delegates today adopted a resolution to
amend the state’s Domestic Relations Law to give same-sex couples
the right to marry; and to recognize civil marriages that have been
contracted elsewhere.
The resolution was presented to the House of Delegates -- the
decision and policy-making body of the Association -- in a comprehensive
180-page report prepared by the Special Committee on LGBT People and the
Law, titled “Report and Recommendations on Marriage Rights for
Same-Sex Couples.”
New York State Bar Association President Michael E. Getnick (Getnick
Livingston Atkinson & Priore, LLP of Utica and of counsel to Getnick
& Getnick of New York City) said, “Today, tens of thousands of
New Yorkers do not have the protections, responsibilities and dignity
associated with marriage. These same-sex couples lack basic legal
rights in such critical areas as health care, hospital visitation rights
and child custody issues. Frequently, they also suffer intangible
harm – the indignity and stigma of not being able to marry.
The State Bar has taken an important step forward in support of same-sex
marriage. We urge our state legislators to do the same.”
The State Bar has long supported equal rights for same-sex
couples. A top legislative priority, the Association adopted a
resolution in 2005 calling for legislation that would provide same-sex
couples with the same comprehensive set of rights and responsibilities
that are available to heterosexual couples either in the form of
domestic partnerships, civil unions, or as an amendment expanding the
statutory definition of marriage.
The new report, however, noted that a great deal had changed in the
landscape of marriage rights since 2004. Same-sex couples can now
marry in Vermont, Iowa, Connecticut and Massachusetts – with
marriage equality advancing in New Hampshire and Maine.
Additionally, Governor Paterson has ordered state agencies to recognize
same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, creating an inherent inequality
in New York today: same-sex couples can live as married partners
in New York, but they cannot enter into a valid marriage in their own
home state.
Getnick added, “The irony is that same-sex couples can be
married in New York; they just can’t get married in New York. It
is appropriate and timely that the State Bar amend our position to
reflect the sea change that is occurring across the nation.”
Citing freedom of religion as an essential American institution, the
resolution also states that any legislation shall exempt clergy from the
obligation to perform any marriage to which they object.
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The 76,000-member New York State Bar Association is the official
statewide organization of lawyers in New York and the largest voluntary
state bar association in the nation. Founded in 1876, NYSBA
programs and activities have continuously served the public and improved
the justice system for more than 130 years.
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