Court Hears NY Gay Wedding Case

NEW YORK, NY -- Gay and lesbian couples seeking the right to marry in New York hit another obstacle Tuesday as New York's appeals court appeared to side with the city lawyers who argued that the issue of gay marriage should be decided by the legislature and not by the courts.

Lambda Legal Defense Fund lawyer Susan Sommer argued that gay marriage is a constitutional issue, not merely a legislative one. "There is a fundamental right to marry the person of your choice," Sommer said. However, at least three members of the five-judge panel of the Appellate Division seemed skeptical to her arguments.

The dispute occurred after Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Doris Ling-Cohan issued a ruling in February that a state law barring same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Ling-Cohan ruled that the city clerk could not refuse to issue a marriage license to a couple just because they are of the same sex.

"Under both the federal and New York state constitutions, it is beyond question that the right to liberty, and the concomitant right to privacy, extend to protect marriage," Ling-Cohan wrote.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg appealed the decision, telling the gay and lesbian community that the constitutional status of marriage had to be determined by the State's highest court, the New York Court of Appeals.