N.Y. Benefits for
Gay Spouses Challenged

A mid-level New York State appeals court in Albany heard arguments Wednesday in a challenge to the state's health benefit policy for spouses of gay state workers, the Associated Press reports.

The challenge was brought by taxpayers represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative group. The four plaintiffs, a group of taxpayers the AP says are not state workers, say whether to allow spousal benefits should be left up to the state legislature. Brian Raum, who is representing plaintiffs Kenneth and Denise Lewis and Robert and Elaine Houck, said that former governor Eliot Spitzer's 2007 authorization of the policy is "completely at odds" with current law and that the change should have been "left up to the democratic process."

Assistant solicitor general Sasha Samberg-Champion said that lawmakers considered but did not adopt legislation to reverse the policy, which affects only state employees who were legally married in jurisdictions that grant same-sex marriages, including Canada, Massachusetts, and now California and Connecticut. A lower court earlier this year upheld the benefits policy. The appeals court's decision is expected in about a month.

Another battle over recognition of same-sex marriages is ongoing in the state courts. The New York supreme court ruled September 9 that current governor David Paterson acted within his powers when he issued an executive order requiring state agencies to recognize for legally married same-sex couples all rights afforded to heterosexual married couples in the state. The Alliance Defense Fund had filed suit to fight the May 14 directive.

Justice Lucy Billings wrote in her opinion, "When partners manifest the commitment to their relationship and family, by solemnizing that commitment elsewhere, through one of life's most significant events, and come to New York, whether returning home or setting down roots, to carry on that commitment, nothing is more antithetical to family stability than requiring them to abandon that solemnized commitment." This ruling is also under appeal; in New York State, the top-level appeals court, not the supreme court, is the highest court.

New York State does not currently marry gay couples; while the state assembly passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in 2007, the senate has yet to vote on the proposed legislation. (Michelle Garcia, The Advocate)