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Spitzer Sends Opinion on Same-Sex Marriage to MA Governor
Spitzer Declines to Affirm Romney's reading that NY Law Treats Same-Sex Marriage as Void
New York City, May 14, 2004 – Today New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sent Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney a copy of his March 3rd opinion on marriage for same-sex couples, part of which includes the Attorney General’s reading of New York law that marriages of same-sex couples lawfully performed elsewhere should be recognized in New York State.
The opinion was sent by Solicitor General Caitlin J. Halligan in the Attorney General’s office and was accompanied by a cover letter saying, “I am writing in response to your letter to Attorney General Eliot Spitzer dated April 29, 2004. While our office does not provide legal opinions to other states, I am enclosing a copy of an opinion by our office on March 3, 2004.”
This action was prompted by a letter from Governor Romney to every governor and attorney general in the nation saying that Massachusetts will not marry same-sex couples from another state unless provided with an authoritative statement affirming that marriage between same-sex couples are not void in the couples’ home state.
Ross Levi, an attorney and the Director of Pubic Policy and Government Affairs with Empire State Pride Agenda, New York’s statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, said, “Governor Romney tried to deny equality for his own citizens and now he is trying to do the same for citizens from other states. Attorney General Spitzer in reiterating his March 3rd opinion was not willing to let Governor Romney hide behind New York law in order to discriminate against our families.”
Levi continued, “It is incompatible for Governor Romney to conclude that marriages of same-sex couples are void in New York when Attorney General Spitzer has said unions performed in places like Canada and Vermont must be recognized as 100% legal marriages.”
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