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Pat Robertson's Biased Legal Challengers Fail Again Protections for Same Sex Couples' Rights |
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Compiled By GayToday
New York, New York—November 5 -- A New York appeals court has upheld the New
York City domestic partner law, dealing a blow to the national campaign waged
by Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice to overturn municipal
domestic partner ordinances across the country, Lambda Legal Defense and
Education Fund said Friday.
The five-member Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court unanimously upheld the legality of the New York City ordinance in a brief four-page opinion issued in Slattery v. City of New York released late Thursday afternoon. Lambda had filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the domestic partner law. Staff Attorney Marvin C. Peguese, who wrote Lambda's brief, said, "This important decision follows both a legal and social trend recognizing the importance and feasibility of providing domestic partner benefits. This ruling will aid many lesbian and gay families who need the protection and security that most non-gay families take for granted." The Court found no reason to stop the city from following the example set by the state, which began offering domestic partner benefits to its employees and retirees thanks to a 1993 case Lambda settled on behalf of the Lesbian & Gay Teachers Association. The New York City ordinance was passed in September 1998. "Given these actions by the State, plaintiffs' claim that it is against State and/or public policy for the City to provide health care and other benefits to the domestic partners of its employees...is untenable," wrote the Court in affirming a lower court decision that likewise rejected the ACLJ's claims.
Headquartered in New York and with regional offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Atlanta, Lambda is the nation's oldest and largest legal organization serving lesbians, gay men, and people with HIV/AIDS. (Slattery v. City of New York, No. 113307/98) _ |
