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Homosexual "Marriage" Trickling Down to New York as Judge Recognizes Same-Sex Divorce

By Kathleen Gilbert

MANHATTAN, New York, October 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Manhattan judge has ruled that a homosexual couple "married" in Massachusetts is eligible for a divorce in New York, despite the fact that homosexual "marriage" is still illegal in the state.

Supreme Court Justice Rosalyn Richter cited previous court rulings as precedent, in which the state of New York recognized same-sex "marriages" contracted in Canada. 

The primary case cited was Martinez v. County of Monroe, in which the court decided to recognize a same-sex "marriage" on the grounds that the "legislature has not enacted legislation to prohibit the recognition of same-sex marriages." 

The court ruled that the homosexual contract did not contravene the state's "natural law" prohibition, which protects against marriages "offensive to the public sense of morality to a degree regarded generally with abhorrence," saying that this rule generally only applies to polygamy and incest.

"This Court’s research and the cases cited by the parties provide no reason to carve out a unique exception for the parties here simply because they are of the same gender or because of their sexual orientation," wrote Justice Richter.  The couple's lawyer hailed the decision as the first time a New York judge has afforded full faith and credit to a homosexual "marriage" that took place in the United States.

However, New York Law School professor Arthur S. Leonard said the case raised "interesting issues" for the court, since the Massachusetts marriage between the two New York residents may have been technically illegal according to Massachusetts law at the time, which forbade out-of-state couples from getting married if such a marriage were void in their home state.

Leonard told LifeSiteNews.com that "the status of the marriage under Massachusetts law" was, at least, "subject to question."  According to Leonard, Justice Richter did not address this difficulty in her ruling.

The case marks yet another example of a court decision imposing recognition of same-sex "marriage" without recourse to a legislative body.  In all three states where homosexual "marriage" is permitted - California, Massachusetts, and Connecticut - the change was effected through the rulings of activist judges.

See related LifeSiteNews.com articles:

Mandatory Homosexual Indoctrination in Grade School Survives after Supreme Court Turns Down Case
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/oct/08100812.html

State Funded Homosexual Youth Event Encourages Children to Display Homosexual Acts
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051505.html

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