Last week the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, ruled that the state constitution "does not compel the recognition of marriages between members of the same sex."
In a four to two decision (with one recusal), the court indicated that the matter should be decided by the legislature.
This might be interpreted as a court simply trying to rule on the existing letter of law, and nothing further. However, judicial restraint wasn't the order of the day. The muddled opinion by rightwing judge Robert S. Smith was peppered with homophobic and outdated ideas about gay child-raising--despite all the concrete evidence to the contrary, and the fact that the nation's largest pediatricians group (the American Academy of Pediatrics) had just announced that, in reality, children would greatly benefit from the legalization of same-sex marriage.
(From the AAP press release: Children of same-gender parents often experience economic, legal, and familial insecurity as a result of the absence of legal recognition of their bonds to nonbiological parents... and legal recognition of a [same-gender] spouse can increase the ability of adult couples to provide and care for one another and fosters a nurturing and secure environment for their children.)
But the New York court said: "Intuition and experience suggest that a child benefits from having before his or her eyes, every day, living models of what both a man and a woman are like."
The strangely hysterical decision sounded as though the judges simply wanted to make a statement about their general aversion to gays, whether or not it pertained to marriage. It was written and supported by the Republican appointees to the bench. In other words, once again, the Republican party, whether lurking in the executive, legislative, or judicial branches of the government, proves its homophobia.
And yet the gay Republicans of New York still cling to their belief that George Pataki is their friend.
Hey, gay Goopers! Pataki isn't your friend! He applauds decisions that maintain gays are lesser humans than straights. When are you going to hear this? When are you going to realize you support a party that hates you? When are you going to understand that every time you vote Republican, you deprive yourselves of your basic rights?
An outstanding dissent was written by Chief Judge Judith Kaye, a Democratic appointee. Kaye said the court failed to uphold its responsibility to correct inequalities: "It is uniquely the function of the Judicial Branch to safeguard individual liberties guaranteed by the New York State Constitution, and to order redress for their violation...he court's duty to protect constitutional rights is an imperative of the separation of powers, not its enemy. I am confident that future generations will look back on today's decision as an unfortunate misstep."
And while New York Democrats uniformly objected to the decision, New York Republicans, especially Governor Pataki, openly rejoiced. Likewise, while national Republicans praised the court, Democrats spoke up for gays. Howard Dean gave the following statement: "As Democrats, we believe that every American has a right to equal protection under the law and to live in dignity. And we must respect the right of every family to live in dignity with equal rights, responsibilities and protections under the law. Today's decision by the New York Court of Appeals, which relies on outdated and bigoted notions about families, is deeply disappointing, but it does not end the effort to achieve this goal. "
Oddly, gay Republicans didn't seem to hear any of these Democratic comments. They were too busy congratulating themselves that their Republican allies had once again relegated them to second class status. Odd thing to celebrate, but then, what's an odder thing than a gay Republican?