Same-sex spouses get pension rights in NY

ALBANY, N.Y., Sept. 13 (UPI) -- A judge has cleared the way for New York state to offer the same pension benefits to legally married gay couples that heterosexual married couples receive.

Same-sex marriage is not legal in New York but is in Canada, Massachusetts and a handful of European countries. The judge’s ruling, which dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative group based in Scottsdale, Ariz., applies to couples whose marriages are legal according to the laws of the jurisdiction where they were wed, The Buffalo News reported.

“This is a great day for New Yorkers who believe in fairness and equality,” said New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

DiNapoli is the only trustee of the state pension system, which also covers county and municipal employees. The fund expanded benefits in 2004, based on the principal that New York recognizes legal marriages of all sorts contracted elsewhere.

“Under this theory, the laws of other countries and other states now become the laws of New York, circumventing the legislative process and creating a situation where same-sex marriages are recognized in New York without the legislative process,” said Brian Raum, a spokesman for the alliance.