NOW Denounces New York Court's Intolerant Decision

Statement of NOW President Kim Gandy

July 6, 2006

Today, New York's highest court decided 4-2 that state law limits marriage to one man and one woman. Judge Robert Smith declined to expand the interpretation, saying that it is up to the state's legislature to change the law.

This decision is an unacceptable endorsement of intolerance. As an organization dedicated to the civil rights of all people, including the right to love and marry whomever one chooses, NOW will resist efforts by any state to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

We urge the New York State Legislature to correct this unfairness. NOW calls on activists and supporters of equal rights in New York to press their own state legislators to render this hateful decision moot by establishing equal marriage rights for all couples. This is not about a wedding ceremony, but is a crucial issue of economic and social justice. It is imperative that this country, at the state and federal levels, guarantee the fundamental rights of every person and the benefits that follow from those rights.

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For Immediate Release
Contact: Mai Shiozaki, 202-628-8669, ext. 116; cell 202-641-1906

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