OUR LATEST ISSUE
Same-sex partnerships "from elsewhere" get Governor's thumbs up
NYC
British Civil Partnerships to be recognised in New York
"New York's gay community is hoping that it won't be long until they are allowed to celebrate same-sex unions themselves"
In an historic decision, Civil Partnerships carried out in Britain - or Canada or Spain or wherever - will now be recognised as legal in New York. It follows a ruling in the New York Appellate court in February which found that a woman's female partner - they had married in Canada - was in fact entitled to health benefits. The Governor of New York issued an order to State agencies earlier this month that the ruling meant all same-sex unions were to be respected as equal to heterosexual marriage.
"The revisions are most likely to involve as many as 1,300 statutes and regulations in New York governing everything from joint filing of tax returns to transfering fishing licenses between spouses," said The New York Times, while New York's Governor, David Paterson said in a videotaped message to leaders from the gay community that the move was "a strong step towards marriage equality".
New York's gay community is hoping that it won't be long until they are allowed to celebrate same-sex unions themselves but in the meantime should any UK resident fall in love and celebrate a Civil Parntership they can rest assured that in the Big Apple they will be treated as a "married" couple the same as they are at home.
