NYC to Appeal Same-Sex Marriage Ruling (Bloomberg: 'chaos in this city')

[truthpusher]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2005/feb/05/020505973.html

Today: February 05, 2005 at 16:11:07 PST

NYC to Appeal Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK (AP) - The city will appeal a judge's ruling against the state ban on same-sex marriages, the mayor said Saturday.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he wanted the issue to be settled in the state's highest court or in the Legislature.

"If we did not appeal this, I think we would have chaos in this city," said Bloomberg, who said he supports allowing same-sex marriage.

State Supreme Court Justice Doris Ling-Cohan ruled Friday that the state ban is unconstitutional, finding in favor of five same-sex couples who had been denied marriage licenses by the city. The judge said the city clerk may not deny a license solely because a couple are of the same sex.

snip

"I'm glad the judge ruled this way because it gets us the ability to get this to the appellate court," Bloomberg said.

complete story here:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2005/feb/05/020505973.html

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[sam sarrha]

2. the stand can only be because of Religious reasons,but the state cant rule

based on religious bias... how are 5 couples going to end the world if they get married.. they have about a 60% chance of divorcing anyway.. there is nothing sacred about marriage to begin with, especially marriage outside of a church.. my wife and i had to get married by a justice of the peace because we are Buddhists.. our families wanted us to get married in their church so they could have a wedding to attend, but none of the churches would marry us..

[The Doctor.]

6. Couldn't have found a temple and humored your families?

I have a couple of friends who are Satanists. (and very nice people to boot.)

They like nice ceremonies, so it'll be interesting to see how they go about one for the sake of their families.

[TahitiNut]

22. A Buddhist wedding ceremony, while simple, can be quite beautiful.

It's surprising you couldn't find a temple to host it - and surely could find one to bless the commitment. The Buddha stated only that marriage should be based on deep mutual respect between partners and that it should be a partnership of equals. While not a religious rite, there's a wealth of secular tradition to draw from.

The wedding day is begun at a local temple where the couple separately asks for the blessings of Buddha. Both bride and groom are then dressed in outfits traditional to their region.

At the mutually auspicious astrologically designated wedding time, the bride and groom are individually taken to the shrine room of their local temple or a hall hired for the occasion. Here, the couple sees each other for the first time on that day.

Spiritual Buddhist wedding traditions don't necessarily require the presence of monks or the use of a temple's shrine room. For these traditions, the wedding location would be equipped with a shrine to Buddha featuring candles, flowers, incense and a statue or image of Buddha.

The ceremony begins as the entire assembly recites the Vandana, Tisarana and Pancasila readings. The couple then lights the candles and incense sticks surrounding Buddha's image and offers him the flowers within the shrine. Because of the secularity of Buddhist weddings, there is no assigned set of marriage vows. However, the bride and groom will recite their expected undertakings using the Sigilovdda Sutta as a guide. The Sigiloydda Sutta says:

"In five ways should a wife, as Western quarter, be ministered to by her husband: by respect, by courtesy, by faithfulness, by handing over authority to her, by providing her with ornaments. In these five ways does the wife minister to by her husband as the Western quarter, love him: her duties are well-performed by hospitality to kin of both, by faithfulness, by watching over the goods he brings and by skill and industry in discharging all business."

After these vows are spoken, the bride and groom can exchange rings. If monks are present, the marriage vows will be both preceded and proceeded by their chanting.

http://marriage.aryabhatt.com/buddhist_wedding.asp

[freethought]

3. I thought Bloomberg would tow party line!

This is surpisisng! I wonder how the upstaters think about this? They tend to vote repub! HMMMM!

[aquart]

13. This isn't party line.

Bloomberg's pushing the decision to the State Supreme Court. If the decision stands, ALL of New York State becomes gay marriage legal. And the next mayor or governor can't reverse it. At the very least, it will guarantee that the licenses issued in the city will be legal.

Right now, New York City has a judge saying gay marriage is okay, and upstate has a judge saying it ain't. This HAS to hit the high court.

[jumptheshadow]

19. The Court of Appeals is conservative

Don't expect miracles.

We'll rejoice if there is one.

[codegreen]

4. god might lift his veil of protection again!

oh god, i hope they can stop the queers...:cry:

[The Doctor.]

5. So let me get this straight... (so to speak);

This is a race against the clock.

This issue is being pushed up to the State Supreme Court level in every state so that the SCOTUS will be bludgeoned with appeals to hear these cases despite being unwilling to do so.

(If they heard the case and ruled in accord with the constitution, Pat Robertson would ask millions of people to pray for their deaths.)

This needs to be heard by the Supreme court BEFORE the House and Senate pass a law banning SSM.

After the supreme court rules that a ban is unconstitutional, congress would be unable to pass a ban.

Am I close?

[aquart]

14. No.

Congress doesn't have the powers not granted to it. So far as I know, state marriage laws belong to the states. That's why some states had miscegnation laws and some didn't. Not a power a state would be willing to give up lightly.

THAT's why we would have had to have a constitutional amendment to control marriage in all states. Because, currently, it isn't a federal entitlement.

[aquart]

7. Chaos, no. Economic boom, yes.

Wedding industry. Florists. Halls booked. Hotels at full capacity which they haven't been since 9/11. Caterers. Formal wear. Printing. Jewelry. Gifts. Flatware. Small electronics. Linens. And on and bloody on.

That's MY kind of chaos, Bloomberg.

Geesh. The guy's a billionaire but he's clearly never been in retail.

[freethought]

8. Especially formal wear!

You just know that a pair of gay men will do formal wear in style!!

[aquart]

12. And the guests?

The mothers, for instance?

[pokercat999]

17. The factories in CHINA can hardly wait! n/t

[jumptheshadow]

20. Yep

We just got back from our wedding in Toronto. Even though it was only an eight person affair, our hotel got some bookings during a slow part of the week; our restaurant rang up a fat tab, including several pricey steaks and two nice bottles of champagne; three waiters split a $350 tip; the local restaurants, cabbies, theatres and retail shops raked in a couple of thousand dollars, and the airline sold more seats. Now multiple this by thousands of people, many who have far more money to spend than we do...

By the way, you can't put a price tag on the tears of happiness from our family during and after the beautifully written ceremony in City Hall.

Thank you, Toronto, for being such a rational, well-run city. And thank you for enabling us to realize our dream after 14 years together.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

21. Congrats Jumptheshadow!

I am eagerly awaiting the commitment ceremony of two dear gay friends who have been together for several years and it pains me that they cannot have the same legal recognition my husband and I do. Love is love. As long as the two parties are consenting adults, as long as they are determined in their relationship to one another, what the heck is the problem with that?

[jumptheshadow]

25. Thank you!

By the way, this is all money we would have spent in New York City, had marriage been legal here.

We were on a cloud all weekend. Then we came in through American immigration -- and quickly were faced with reality. "What are you doing here?" the immigration officer asked me when I approached him with my spouse. "We're family, we were just married," we said. Yes, we knew the law. But it just seemed natural to be together.

"That is not recognized over there," the officer said. "And we have major concerns about privacy. So the next time you come through immigration, please approach separately."

It was a rote speech, probably given hundreds of times, and the innuendo behind it was not subtle at all.

[TomClash]

9. Chaos in the City?

Please. Is he worried married lesbians might start smoking in restaurants?

I thought his party was for "Freedom."

If he supports same sex marriage, then why is he appealing?

I know the answer - Tom Ognibene.

[JerseygirlCT]

10. It sounds like it's all about Bloomberg

chaos is sort of the natural state of NYC. Don't know why a little more would make any significant dent.

But for so many people, not being allowed to live their lives with legal recognition, and all the rights that we heteros take for granted is pretty damned important.

I think he needs a new perspective here.

[Maven]

11. This could be a very good thing.

Right now the ruling only technically applies to New York City. Once the ruling is upheld by the court of appeals, SSM will essentially be legal in the entire state.

[aquart]

15. No. It would still apply to NYC only, wouldn't it?

NEED A LAWYER HERE!

For the ruling to apply to the state, the state supreme court would have to make a decision, yes? No? Maybe?

[Maven]

16. The state Supreme Court *did* make a decision.

That's the decision that was rendered. But in New York, the Supreme Court is not the highest court--the Court of Appeals is. The thing is, if the Court of Appeals (as the last word) upholds this ruling, it effectively makes moot any attempt to uphold the old Domestic Relations law anywhere in the state, thus broadening the scope of the decision beyond New York City.

[aquart]

18. Appeals is higher than Supreme in New York?

I did not know that.

I thought it was the other way around.

[TahitiNut]

23. The "Supreme Court" in New York is what other states call "Superior Court"

:shrug:

[Stephanie]

24. Bloomberg: I'm FOR same sex marriage, but I won't support it

Bloomberg is toast. I loathe Bloomberg.