by Rex Wockner
NATIONAL NEWS – June 09, 2008
Five state lawmakers and the right-wing legal group Alliance Defense Fund sued New York Gov. David Paterson on June 3, hoping to block his order that state agencies must recognize same-sex marriages entered into in places where they are legal.
The suit claims that only the Legislature can redefine marriage and seeks an injunction halting implementation of the order.
Paterson has said he merely complied with a recent court decision that found that a community college could not deny benefits to the wife of a female employee – the couple married in Canada – because New York policy recognizes marriages performed outside the state.
Same-sex marriage is allowed in Belgium, California, Canada, Denmark, Massachusetts, the Netherlands, South Africa and Spain.
