NY Court Says NO! To Gay Marriage

[Pangloss62]

Verbatim: NY Court Says No to Gay Marriage
By Laura Conaway | July 06, 2006

In a 4-2 decision today, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that same-sex couples presently have no right to marriage under state law. The high-court's stance effectively punted the matter over to the state legislature, which historically has been slow to act on behalf of gay citizens.

The following are key excerpts from the ruling, available online.


"We hold that the New York Constitution does not compel recognition of marriages between members of the same sex. Whether such marriages should be recognized is a question to be addressed by the Legislature.

[. . .]

First, the Legislature could rationally decide that, for the welfare of children, it is more important to promote stability, and to avoid instability, in opposite-sex than in same-sex relationships. Heterosexual intercourse has a natural tendency to lead to the birth of children; homosexual intercourse does not. Despite the advances of science, it remains true that the vast majority of children are born as a result of a sexual relationship between a man and a woman, and the Legislature could find that this will continue to be true. The Legislature could also find that such relationships are all too often casual or temporary.

It could find that an important function of marriage is to create more stability and permanence in the relationships that cause children to be born. It thus could choose to offer an inducement -- in the form of marriage and its attendant benefits -- to opposite-sex couples who make a solemn, long-term commitment to each other. The Legislature could find that this rationale for marriage does not apply with comparable force to same-sex couples. These couples can become parents by adoption, or by artificial insemination or other technological marvels, but they do not become parents as a result of accident or impulse. The Legislature could find that unstable relationships between people of the opposite sex present a greater danger that children will be born into or grow up in unstable homes than is the case with same-sex couples, and thus that promoting stability in oppositesex relationships will help children more. This is one reason why the Legislature could rationally offer the benefits of marriage to opposite-sex couples only.

There is a second reason: The Legislature could rationally believe that it is better, other things being equal, for children to grow up with both a mother and a father. Intuition and experience suggest that a child benefits from having before his or her eyes, every day, living models of what both a man and a woman are like. It is obvious that there are exceptions to this general rule -- some children who never know their fathers, or their mothers, do far better than some who grow up with parents of both sexes -- but the Legislature could find that the general rule will usually hold.

[. . .]

We hold, in sum, that the Domestic Relations Law's limitation of marriage to opposite-sex couples is not unconstitutional. We emphasize once again that we are deciding only this constitutional question. It is not for us to say whether same-sex marriage is right or wrong. We have presented some (though not all) of the arguments against same-sex marriage because our duty to defer to the Legislature requires us to do so. We do not imply that there are no persuasive arguments on the other side -- and we know, of course, that there are very powerful emotions on both sides of the question. [. . .]

It may well be that the time has come for the Legislature to address the needs of same-sex couples and their families, and to consider granting these individuals additional benefits through marriage or whatever status the Legislature deems appropriate. Because the New York Constitution does not compel such a revision of the Domestic Relations Law, the decision whether or not to do so rests with our elected representatives."


In her dissent, Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye called marriage a fundamental right, and argued that the gay couples have had trouble wringing any rights from the legislature:


"Defendants contend that classifications based on sexual orientation should not be afforded heightened scrutiny because, they claim, homosexuals are sufficiently able to achieve protection from discrimination through the political process, as evidenced by the Legislature's passage of SONDA in 2002. SONDA, however, was first introduced in 1971. It failed repeatedly for 31 years, until it was finally enacted just four years ago. Further, during the Senate debate on the Hate Crimes Act of 2000, one Senator noted that '[i]t's no secret that for years we could have passed a hate-crimes bill if we were willing to take out gay people, if [we] were willing to take out sexual orientation. . .' The simple fact is that New York has not enacted anything approaching comprehensive statewide domestic partnership protections for same-sex couples, much less marriage or even civil unions.

[. . .]

The fact remains that although a number of bills to authorize same-sex marriage have been introduced in the Legislature over the past several years, none has ever made it out of committee.

[. . .]

It is uniquely the function of the Judicial Branch to safeguard individual liberties guaranteed by the New York State Constitution, and to order redress for their violation. The Court's duty to protect constitutional rights is an imperative of the separation of powers, not its enemy. I am confident that future generations will look back on today's decision as an unfortunate misstep."

[Ibby]

Fuck.

[Pangloss62]

Heterosexual intercourse has a natural tendency to lead to the birth of children; homosexual intercourse does not. Despite the advances of science, it remains true that the vast majority of children are born as a result of a sexual relationship between a man and a woman, and the Legislature could find that this will continue to be true. The Legislature could also find that such relationships are all too often casual or temporary.

It's clear that the tack the 4 NY judges took was all about children, ignoring the issue of the civil benefits that acrue to legally married couples and don't acrue to equally commited same sex couples. Not all same sex couples have children, and with a 50% divorce rate, the latter is just as likely to "damage" children as having parents of the same sex.

The Legislature could also find that such relationships are all too often casual or temporary.

Couldn't one same the same thing about heterosexual couples?

[Undertoad]

How could one find that such relationships are all too often casual or temporary, and decide that the solution is to prevent the legal recognition of partnership that leads to more permanent coupling?

[Pangloss62]

Indeed, toad. When you read their arguments the illogic is glaring. It all sounds rather hateful, actually.

If this issue becomes a cornerstone for the mid-term elections, what does that say about our country? Where are our priorities?

[wolf]

How 'bout them activist judges in the blue state, eh?

(I'm really quite amused)

[Elspode]

Damn, I *so* wanted to call them that, Wolf. Great minds and all...

I know I beat this subject to death, but goddamn it...preventing the legal partnering of same sex couples has got to be one of the stupidest, most pointless, discriminatory, ignorant, prejudiced, bigoted and just plain downright *wrong* things going on in this country.

Morals? Not in this land. Better that a heterosexual couple who hate each others guts raise their children than a loving same sex couple. Sure, the kids raised by heteros will be basket cases, but they're likely to be *straight* basket cases, I guess. And that's what's important...putting the right appendange in the right hole. Mental health and well-adjustment be damned.

Ptui!

[Pangloss62]

Despite the advances of science...

That part kills me. They invoke science but ignore the science that has pretty-much established that homosexuality is a biological trait, not a "lifestyle." People tend to avoid this science-based argument, but it's THE one to make. I wish that debate was more in the forefront. I wish both the scientific and Gay community would push that argument. But then again, we're dealing with people who deny evolution too, so what's the point? I guess it is about poles and holes (or polls and holes).

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by Pangloss62

That part kills me. They invoke science but ignore the science that has pretty-much established that homosexuality is a biological trait, not a "lifestyle."

[slang]

Originally Posted by wolf

How 'bout them activist judges in the blue state, eh?

(I'm really quite amused)

Yes. [sarcasm]Their Christian bias is glaring there in NY.[/sarcasm]

Dont fret. There are higher courts to decide this again. Probably.

[Ibby]

There's an article on the whole anti-gay-marriage thing in the June Rolling Stone.

Turns out, even Fred Phelps (Mr. God Hates Fags) denounces Bush as shameless for his support of the amendment.

Not that this is about the amendment.

Bigots in power... welcome to America.

[9th Engineer]

Like it or not at least it's a state issue now. Some states will likely decide not to permite gay marriage and others will. Any overarching legislation either banning it or stamping it into law is inappropriate, the natural result is different results in different states.

[Jordon]

would be to focus on simply obtaining civil union rights equal to marriage rights. It's the word marriage that is causing this backlash.

Unfortunately, the push for "gay marriage" will continue, the invective and vitriol will only get worse on both sides, and homosexuals will end up with less progress toward equal rights. A lot of middle-of-the-road voters, who would probably have otherwise voted for civil unions, will hear the accusations and verbal garbage being tossed at straight people and think "fine, screw you then. you get nothing."

Score remains: 49-1

[wolf]

The point that seems to be missed in the furor over "gays should marry" vs. "gays shouldn't marry" is that the court rightly decided that this is not an issue for the courts, but should be decided in the State Legislature.