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New York

Eric Bailey and Frank Jett, joined in marriage by the Rev. Carol Huston
Eric Bailey and Frank Jett, joined in marriage by the Rev. Carol Huston
New York and New Jersey UU ministers who performed marriages
New York and New Jersey UU ministers who performed marriages
The Rev. Sam Trumbore with Bob Barnes, George Jurgatsis, Lynne Lekakis, and Elissa Kane
The Rev. Sam Trumbore with Bob Barnes, George Jurgatsis, Lynne Lekakis, and Elissa Kane

State's Highest Court Rules Against Marriage Equality

Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation honors UU Church of Buffalo Acrobat Reader Required on April 2.

The Rev. Keith  Kron, director of the Office of Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Concerns, congratulates the UU Church of Buffalo.

On July 6, 2006, the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, ruled that prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying was not a violation of the state's Constitution. Read the text of the court's decision External Site: link will open a new window. UUA president William G. Sinkford issued a statement in response to the decision and called upon the NY Legislature to take the necessary steps to end discrimination in the state's legal code.

Background: On February 7, 2006, in legal arguments filed with New York State's highest court, the Court of Appeal, by Lambda Legal, the position that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples is unconstitutional External Site: link will open a new window was pushed forward through the Empire State's judicial system.External Sites The court is expected to hear oral arguments in the case later this year. The UUA has signed on as a friend of the court in support of marriage equality in several New York state marriage cases, including the most recent appeal of Hernandez v. Robles Acrobat Reader Required.

The filing marks the latest round of legal volleying External Site: link will open a new window around marriage equality in New York. On December 8, 2005, a New York State Appellate Court overturned a ruling that the state ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. That ruling related to the February 3, 2005 action by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Doris Ling-Cohan in which she determined that a New York City clerk could not deny a marriage license to any couple Acrobat Reader Required solely on the ground that the two are of the same sex.

Background: On February 27, 2004, New Paltz, NY Mayor Jason West announced that he would begin performing same-sex marriages for couples, issuing an affadavit rather than a marriage license. West performed 25 weddings, but on March 6, faced with charges levied by the Ulster County District Attorney on March 2 for solemnizing weddings without a license, West decided to stop performing same sex marriages at least temporarily, and asked for volunteers to continue the marriages.

West was contacted by a number of ministers including a significant number of Unitarian Univeralists who wished to continue performing marriages in New Paltz. Among them was the Rev. Kay Greenleaf, a Unitarian Universalist minister serving the Poughkeepsie, NY UU congregation. Greenleaf, with the support her congregation's board, began performing the services on March 6 and was joined by the Rev. Dawn Sangrey, minister of the Fourth Universalist Society of Westchester, NY.

Greenleaf and Sangrey were charged with solemnizing marriages without a license by the Ulster County District Attorney, Don Williams, on March 15. They were formally charged in court on March 22. The charges raised new questions about the separation of church and state, since the ministers were performing religious services for the couples similar to others which have been performed throughout the world by clergy of many faiths for decades. Ulster County D.A. Williams responded: "It is not our intention to interfere with anyone's rights to express their religious beliefs. This office fully understands, appreciates and supports the significance of separation of church and state.'' He went on to assert that the clergy ''have publicly proclaimed their intent to perform civil marriages under the authority vested in them by New York State law, rather than performing purely religious ceremonies.''

In response to the charges levied against Greenleaf and Sangrey, UUA President William G. Sinkford released the following statement on March 16.

The action against Greenleaf and Sangrey, and the effort they made to conduct same sex marriages, triggered the support of a number of UU clergy from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. The Rev. Sam Trumbore of Albany, one of those performing marriage ceremonies, arrived at Albany City Hall on March 29 with many supporters of equal rights and a same sex couple, wishing to request a marriage license. After being denied a license, the couple, Lynne Lekakis and Elissa Kane, vowed to continue their efforts to gain legal recognition of their union.

On April 7, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against New York State's Department of Health on behalf of 13 same-sex couples whose plans to be married by the Mayor of New Paltz were thwarted after criminal charges were brought against the mayor. This suit is the third of its kind to be filed in the state by advocates of marriage equality. The local bglt community reached out to UU ministers to testify before the state; among the ministers who did so were Rosemary Bray McNatt and David Blanchard. Meanwhile, clergy continued to perform religious marriages of same sex couples and lobbied for full equality in marriage for all loving couples.

On July 13, Town Justice Judith M. Reichler of New Paltz, NY dismissed all charges against Greenleaf and Sangrey, following a similar decision by a different judge who dropped charges in June against New Paltz Mayor Jason West. According to CBS News, Ulster County District Attorney Don Williams dropped the nineteen misdemeanor criminal charges against West saying that "to proceed further would serve no practical purpose."

In issuing her ruling on the Greenleaf/Sangrey case, Reichler determined that the law Ulster County prosecutors used to charge Greenleaf and Sangrey was unconstitutional. ''If it is unconstitutional to prohibit same-sex couples from obtaining marriage licenses, it is unconstitutional to charge defendants with a crime for marrying same-sex couples who are unable to obtain marriage licenses,'' Reichler wrote in her decision. Following the ruling, Sangrey said, "We stand on the shoulders of our Unitarian Universalist colleagues and congregations who have struggled for 40 years to bring our own people to clarity and consensus on the issue of equality for gay people. All of us are forever indebted to those who have fought in the gay rights community for their rightful place in the sun."

Media Coverage External Sites (all of the links below are for external news organizations. Some may require a username/password; some may require a fee; others may archive stories after a period of time):

Testimony and public statements by UUs supporting same sex marriage in New York

UUA joins New York lawsuit for marriage equality External Sites

For further information on same sex marriage in New York External Sites:

 

Archival Coverage from the UUA:

Additional Resources:

Archival Coverage from the UUA:

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