AP
May 29, 2008
ALBANY - Same-sex marriages legally performed elsewhere will be recognized in New York in response to a state court ruling this year, Gov. Paterson's spokeswoman said yesterday.
State agencies, including those governing insurance and health care, must immediately change policies and regulations to make sure "spouse," "husband" and "wife" are clearly understood to include gay couples, according to a memo sent earlier this month from the governor's counsel.
Gay marriage is not legal in New York, and the state's Court of Appeals has said it can only be legalized by the Legislature. But the memo, based on a Feb. 1 New York Appellate Division court ruling, would recognize the marriages of New Yorkers who are legally wed elsewhere.
