The memo was sent following the February ruling of a New York state appeals court which ruled that failure to recognize gay marriages performed in jurisdictions where such marriage is legal violates the state's human rights law.

The memo, from Paterson counsel David Nocenti, told department heads to review their regulations "to assure that terms such as 'spouse,' 'husband,' and 'wife' are construed in such a manner that encompasses legal same-sex marriages, unless some other provision of law would bar your ability to do so."

Nocenti said in the memo, obtained by Gannett News Service, that state agencies should respond to him by June 30 to explain what they have done to comply with his directive.

"The goal of the memo is to make sure that all of the state agencies had all the information available and were operating under the same guidelines," Paterson spokeswoman Erin Duggan said late Wednesday night.

The revisions are most likely to involve as many as 1,300 statutes and regulations in New York governing everything from joint filing of income tax returns to transferring fishing licenses between spouses, The New York Times writes.

In a videotaped message given to gay community leaders at a dinner on May 17, Mr. Paterson described the move as "a strong step toward marriage equality.” And people on both sides of the issue said it moved the state closer to fully legalizing same-sex unions in this state.

"Very shortly, there will be hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, and probably thousands and thousands and thousands of gay people who have their marriages recognized by the state," said Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell, a Democrat who represents the Upper West Side and has pushed for legalization of gay unions.

Last update: 01-31-2009 19:41