New York State Appeals Court and Same-Sex Marriage

Not sure if anyone had as much difficulty with the live web video feed during the hearing on the right of same-sex couples to marry by New York State's highest court on Wednesday but it became a completely frustrating experience for me. Worse, what little I managed to see and hear left me feeling it was a lost cause.

Thankfully, I was able to go to the Court's website the next morning and finally watch the full hearing (It's actually pretty fascinating stuff - if you have a couple of hours, click here).

This week's issue of Gay City News has a good article on the proceedings by Duncan Osborne. It also has a great piece of analysis by Arthur S. Leonard (yup, that's his blog on the right under "Personal Links").

For a while, most analysts of the issue seemed to think that it would be tough to get the Court to rule in favor of the right to marry for gays (even in this, one of the most progressive of states, where a majority actually supports the right to marry).

Ever the pessimist, I'm still not sure that the Court will rule in our favor even if some of what I saw on repeat viewing gave some reason to hope. A ruling is expected within the next couple of months.

Let's cross our fingers...

Previous posts:

• An Update from Daniel and Curtis (May 30, 2006)
• A City Hall Meeting on Marriage (May 12, 2006)
• A Political Experience (March 25, 2006)
• New York Marriage Ambassadors (February 22, 2006)
• "Marriage Equality Matters" is Launched (February 14, 2006)
• New York Court says No to Same-Sex Marriage but does Not Have Last Word (December 9, 2005)
• Fernando Ferrer: I will withdraw City's appeal to same-sex marriage ruling (October 6, 2005)
• Bloomberg's lawyers on gay marriage: Procreation must be protected! (October 4, 2005)
• Newspaper Watch: Hoy NY and Same-Sex Marriage (September 19, 2005)
• So I know this couple... (September 11, 2005)