State retirement system to recognize all same-sex marriages
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- September
- 12
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced today that the New York State and Local Retirement System would recognize same-sex marriages validly conducted in any jurisdiction where they are legal. He made the announcement following a state Supreme Court decision this week to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the system’s recognition of Canadian same-sex marriages. The comptroller’s office administers the retirement system, which includes more than 1 million employees and retirees.
The comptroller’s office began recognizing Canadian same-sex marriages of its members in October 2004. The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative group based in Arizona, filed a lawsuit in 2006 seeking to end the recognition practice. The comptroller said the system will recognize all marriages now, not just those performed in Canada.
Surviving spouses of Retirement System members can receive certain benefits that are not provided for non-spousal partners, including an accidental death benefit provided in certain circumstances and a cost-of-living adjustment to monthly pension payments.
“This is a great day for New Yorkers who believe in fairness and equity,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “The courts have ruled. The law is clear, and it’s not just Canada. New York State recognizes any marriage that has been conducted in accordance with the laws of other states and countries—and that includes same-sex marriages.”
“This ruling is further proof that public and private entities in New York State need to respect the legal out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples in exactly the same way they respect any other marriage,” said Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle.
The state’s highest court ruled in 2006 that denying same-sex couples the ability to marry in New York was not inherently unconstitutional.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 at 1:08 pm by Cara Matthews.
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Jay Gallagher has covered Albany for Gannett News Service since 1984 and has been Albany Bureau chief since 1989. He`s a native of the Boston area and likes to point out that in this millennium, the score is Red Sox 1 championship, the Yankees 0. 
Cara Matthews has been a statehouse correspondent in the Albany Bureau since August 2005. Prior to that, she covered Putnam County government and politics at The Journal News for nearly five years. Before that, she worked at newspapers in Connecticut and covered the state Legislature for one of them. 
