Not exactly. The governor ordered all courts and agencies under the direct power of the executive to recognize out of state gay marriages. This would include regulatory and benefit agencies and administrative courts like the Workers Compensation Board; the Governor’s order does not affect the independent judicial system.
New York’s highest Court has not ruled one way or the other on the issue (although they have ruled that New York’s Constitution does not require the state to recognize, permit, or forbid gay marriages, and stated it was a matter for the legislature).
I really don’t mean to hijack this thread, honest.
But I’d just like to point out that this disproves some peoples’ prejudice that anyone who is pro-gun must be anti-gay, since Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are some of the most pro-gun states.
New Jersey has a shot. I bet it will happen this year after the November elections, whether Corzine wins reelection or not. Democrats have about a 60-40 share in both houses, so it has a decent chance of passing. I’ve written my state assemblymen and senator in support, and I recommend others do the same!
I always imagined Ohio would be the very last state to legalize gay marriage myself, or will be one forced to if the SCOTUS ever legalizes it. We have the strictest anti-SSM laws in the country as of 2004.
There are some things I love about Ohio. Its stance on SSM ain’t one of them.
Politically this is more subtle than it seems. By passing the bill to recognize SSM from states and to say they’re going to pass a SSM bill this summer they’re putting Congress on the spot.
Congress can accede to the new bill and be seen to support SSM when they had the power to prevent it or they can move to strike down the bill and be on the record against it. As a political power play it’s brilliant in forcing a show of hands and building arguments for and against certain power players.
And, I figure, there’s a little bit of ‘Fuck You, Congressional Republicans, for making statehood hinge on changing our gun laws. Fuck you hard. Twice. And now figure out how to vote on THIS, motherfuckers.’
Really, who knew the DC council had a set that big? Not I, and I lived there for 25 years or more.
Am I alone in hoping that this somehow guts traditional marriage as a state institution? One by one the states approve it and one by one marriage becomes the civil and personal thing it should have always been, and one day single folks will stop getting screwed.
Hah, as of 2006, my beloved home state of Wisconsin has been the worst. Although like many other states, Wisconsin has amended its constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, it goes one step beyond not recognizing such marriages. We also have a law from 1914, aimed at interracial marriages, that makes it a crime for Wisconsin residents to enter any marriage in another state that would not be permissible in Wisconsin. Punishable up to nine months in jail or a $10,000 fine.
We had a similar law in Massachusetts, and Romney dragged it out of obscurity to get some RW cred by using it to spite the gays. It had to be actively repealed - nobody could find a good reason to challenge its constitutionality.
The political landscape in WI is undoubtedly a bit different, but perhaps a little time living with a neighbor state where the sky is not falling might change some minds there.
