Read Full-Text Amicus Brief (PDF)

Brief Filed: 5/05
Court: New York Appellate Division, Third Department
Year of Decision: pending

Issue: Constitutional challenge to New York’s refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Index Topic: Sexual Orientation (discrimination; same-sex marriage)

Facts: Plaintiffs filed suite in New York Supreme Court, Albany County, challenging the denial of marriage licenses as violate of the New York Constitution. The trial court ruled for defendants. In March 2005, the Court of Appeals (the state’s highest court) denied plaintiffs’ request for an expedited review, meaning the case will next be heard by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department.

APA's Position: This case poses fundamentally the same questions as the challenges to same-sex marriage statutes in other cases such as Lewis v. Harris, Li v. Oregon, and Andersen v. King County in which the APA filed amicus briefs. Although some details of the legal standards and specific arguments at issue in each of the cases may vary slightly, the psychological issues addressed by APA’s amicus brief are essentially the same.

Result: Pending