Order to recognize gay marriages in N.Y. denounced

By Michael Gormley
Associated Press / May 30, 2008

ALBANY, N.Y. - Opposition surfaced yesterday against Governor David Paterson's directive to New York agencies to recognize gay marriages legally performed in other states and countries.

The Rev. Duane Motley of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms said the Democrat "slapped the people in the face by circumventing their representatives," while New York's Catholic bishops said "just as the state cannot declare a man to be a 'mother' or a woman to be a 'father,' it cannot declare a same-sex union to be a 'marriage'."

Paterson issued a memo earlier this month saying gay New Yorkers who marry where it is legal will have the right to share family healthcare plans, receive tax breaks by filing jointly, enjoy stronger adoption rights, and inherit property. the rest