If you’re a New Yorker, and want to be considered legally married in NY, come to Canada first.

IN 2004, Pat Martinez and Lisa Golden of Monroe County got married in Canada, and returned to New York soon after. Martinez, an employee of Monroe Community College in Rochester, sought health care benefits for her wife whom she married in Canada, but her request was refused.  In 2005,  the case, Martinez v. County of Monroe, was brought by the NYCLU and cooperating attorney Jeffrey Wicks on behalf of Patricia Martinez. 

In February of this year, an appellate court unanimously affirmed the couple’s marriage – the first appellate court decision in the state and the first known decision in the country to hold that a valid same-sex marriage must be recognized. Monroe County then requested that the state’s highest court review and overrule the Fourth Department’s decision.

According to EmpireStateNews.com, New York’s highest court Tuesday handed down a victory for many gay and lesbian couples throughout the state by letting stand the appellate court’s groundbreaking ruling that recognized same-sex couples’ valid out-of-state marriages.

With the highest court letting the earlier ruling stand, the appellate court’s decision continues to remain the statewide law in New York with respect to recognition of gay and lesbian couples’ valid out-of-state marriages.