Recent rulings in Oregon and New York have provided victories for supporters of same-sex unions and setbacks for gay-rights opponents.
A New York appellate panel ruled unanimously that although the Empire State does not allow same-sex “marriages,” it must recognize such unions legally performed in other states.
In Oregon, gay couples can enter into legal domestic partnerships — a federal judge allowed a law approving them to take effect despite petitions from opponents.
The New York ruling, delivered Feb. 1 by a five-judge panel of the state Supreme Court Appellate Division, overturned a lower court’s 2006 ruling. It said a state employee who married her lesbian partner in Canada must receive the same recognition as a heterosexual woman legally married in another jurisdiction.
In Oregon, hundreds of same-sex couples filed into courthouses Feb. 4 to apply for legal domestic-partner status after U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman ruled that a new law allowing such partnerships should take effect.
The law — approved last year by the Oregon Legislature — was set to take effect Jan. 1. But Mosman stayed its implementation to look into allegations from anti-gay-rights groups that attempted to bring the law up for a statewide vote.
The petition drive to place the law on the November 2008 ballot fell only 96 votes short of the 55,179 it required. Supporters of the repeal — including several Christian organizations — said election officials had unfairly disqualified many signatures and there is not a consistent statewide standard for validating signatures. (ABP)
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