Same-sex marriage in New York

[1] The direct action was in response to government discrimination against ceremonial same-sex unions that had been carried out in a church which the GAA used as a meeting space.

Jim Owles was the founding president of the GAA, described as the largest militant gay rights organization in the United States.

"[8] In December 1995, a male couple in Ithaca, Phillip and Toshav Storrs, requested a marriage license from the city clerk.

The couple filed a suit, Storrs v. Holcomb, in April 1996 against the Ithaca city clerk for denying their application for a marriage license.

[8] Shortly after Attorney General Spitzer's informal opinion was issued in 2004, five separate lawsuits were filed contesting the constitutionality of New York's opposite-sex definition of marriage.

In December 2008, the New York Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed the dismissal of the case, confirming that Spano lawfully recognized out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples.

In November 2009, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that Westchester County could lawfully extend government benefits to same-sex couples in out-of-state marriages.

[13] On May 29, 2008, Governor David Paterson directed all New York state agencies to begin to revise their policies and regulations to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions.

Governor Paterson's directive cited the Appellate Division decision in the Martinez case, as well as several lower court rulings.

[15] The court decided these cases on narrow grounds, finding that the state acted within its authority without reaching the issue of marriage recognition.

[16][17] Passed the Senate (33–29)[19] Signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo[19][20] Following the Hernandez v Robles decision in 2006, the focus of the same-sex marriage battle shifted to the executive and legislative branches of government.

[21] Same-sex marriage legislation passed the New York State Assembly for the first time on June 19, 2007,[22] but no action was taken in the Senate, and the bill died.

He said he was "proud to have run on a ticket with now-former Governor Eliot Spitzer that was the first in the country to advocate for marriage equality and to win on that premise."

[28] However, on December 10, 2008, Senator Smith announced that the alleged agreement with three Democratic dissidents had been abandoned, and confirmed that he would not pledge to hold off on a same-sex marriage bill in the upcoming session.

[41][42][43] After the failed effort to pass same-sex marriage legislation in 2009, LGBT activists continued to advocate for civil rights in 2010.

Activists formed a direct action group named Queer Rising, and staged protests outside the New York City Marriage Bureau.

[44] Activists then increased the number of direct action protests,[45] and succeeded in putting the issue on the social and legislative agenda for over a year.

Queer Rising inspired the creation of other LGBT rights groups that, likewise, put pressure on the government to enact same-sex marriage.

[53] Governor Andrew Cuomo, who took office on December 31, 2010,[55] supported same-sex marriage, as did New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

[56] Cuomo called a March 2011 meeting with same-sex marriage advocates to strategize about the legislation, and he played a major role in pushing for it.

[57][58] Other supporters included the Empire State Pride Agenda, the Human Rights Campaign, Equality Matters,[59] Freedom to Marry, and New Yorkers United for Marriage.

[58] Opponents included Archbishop Timothy Dolan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, the National Organization for Marriage, Democratic State Sen. Rubén Díaz Sr. of the Bronx, the Empire Missionary Baptist Convention, Orthodox Jewish leaders, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms,[60] and the Coalition to Save Marriage in New York.

[64] James Alesi became the first Republican senator to announce his support for the bill,[64] and Roy McDonald became the second on June 14, narrowing the requirement for passage to just one.

Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the act into law at 11:55 P.M.[73] Republican senators Mark Grisanti and Stephen Saland joined Sens.

[92] On July 25, 2011, the New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, represented by Liberty Counsel, filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court seeking an injunction against the Marriage Equality Act, alleging corruption and violations of the law in the process of passing the bill.

Justice Wiggins' opinion included the following: "It is ironic that much of the state's brief passionately spews sanctimonious verbiage on the separation of powers in the governmental branches, and clear arm-twisting by the Executive on the Legislative permeates this entire process.

"[94] On July 6, 2012, a five-judge panel of the Appellate Division ruled unanimously that no violation of the Open Meetings Law had occurred and dismissed the suit.

[97] Four Republican senators, James Alesi, Mark Grisanti, Roy McDonald, and Stephen Saland, voted in favor of same-sex marriage.

[98] On May 9, 2012, Alesi announced that he would not run for re-election and indicated that his vote on same-sex marriage would have "severely hampered" his chances in a Republican primary.

[148][149] On December 21, 2022, the Tribal Council modified the definition of "marriage" in the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe Family Court Code to "a contract between two (2) persons, regardless of their sex, creating a union to the exclusion of all others.