Officials mum on gay marriages

By BOB BAIRD

(Original publication: March 14, 2004)

We don't usually have to go chasing after members of our state Legislature delegation to get their views.

They fax us. They e-mail us. They phone us and, sometimes, they even drop by in person. This time they've dropped out of sight.

Since President Bush fanned the smoldering issue of same-sex marriage into a nationwide forest fire of controversy, they've been oddly silent.

Bush has called for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages. Many who oppose that believe marriage has been and should remain a state issue. That's already resulted in lawsuits in New York, including one filed Friday by the the mayor of Nyack and others recently denied marriage licenses.

It won't be a surprise to anyone if the issue also erupts in the state Legislature.

Because we hadn't heard from any of our five Albany representatives about the issue since Bush's call for an amendment, I placed calls Friday morning to state Sen. Thomas P. Morahan, R-New City; and Assembly members Ryan Karben, D-Monsey; Alex Gromack, D-Congers; Nancy Calhoun, R-Blooming Grove, who represents Stony Point; and Howard Mills, R-Hamptonburgh, who represents parts of western Ramapo.

We heard from Karben last week regarding the first meeting of his task force on tolerance and harmony in Rockland. We also got a release about Assembly passage of a bill he co-sponsored that requires hospitals to prohibit other staffers from passing themselves off as registered nurses or licensed practical nurses.

They're both important issues, but so is same-sex marriage. Still, I didn't get a return call from Karben or anyone on his staff, nor did another staffer who tried to get him on the record more than a week earlier.

Calhoun was traveling to a wedding in Virginia Beach when she called back Friday, making it clear that she believes marriage, both in state law and tradition, is something that takes place between a man and a woman.

"I have no problem with people being together," she says, adding that she believes civil unions and other legal steps, such as health proxies, can provide protection for same-sex couples. Still, she says, "you shouldn't call it marriage."

Right now, Calhoun says, she believes the Legislature's two houses have divergent views on expanding the definition of marriage. The Assembly as a whole might favor including same-sex couples, she says, but "the Senate is more conservative," and wouldn't support that change.

"It's going to take a lot to change what is," she says.

"State law makes many references to 'husband and wife' or 'bride and groom,' " she says. "They make it clear the law intended marriage to be between a man and a woman."

Morahan wasn't available Friday, but his spokeswoman, Kori-Ann Taylor, says the issue would be ruled on in the courts because of Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's opinion that state law doesn't permit same-sex marriage. "Those court decisions will be analyzed in Albany," she says, and then there will be decisions on whether legislation is necessary.

That's fine, but we still don't know where the senator stands.

Late last week we got press releases from Morahan's office about Senate passage of a bill to increase fines for violating the state's "do not call" registry and his introduction of a bill to increase the tax deduction for long-term health-care insurance premiums.

But the issue that's occupying the senator — and all of Albany — Taylor says, is the state budget. As for same-sex marriage, "There hasn't been much discussion in our office," she says.

Gromack frequently peppers our newsroom with press releases, such as two earlier this month. One said the state Department of Taxation and Finance would halt the erroneous practice of including federal employer identification numbers on the mailing labels for corporate tax returns. He alerted them to the problem, it said. Another announced Assembly passage of "Timothy's Law," a bill that would end discrimination against those who require mental health and chemical dependency care.

Gromack hasn't issued a press release on gay marriages in general or on weddings performed in New Paltz. Gromack frequently circulates his opinions in column form for op-ed or other use, but not even Nyack Mayor John Shields' plan to perform same-sex marriages in his village brought such a submission.

Shields put his plan on hold in favor of a lawsuit against the state and Orangetown Town Clerk Charlotte Madigan, who refused to issue marriage licenses to Shields and his partner, Bob Streams, as well as other couples.

Friday morning, 10 couples, now dubbed the "Nyack 10," filed a suit seeking to change the law.

Gromack was traveling with family Friday and couldn't be reached. We didn't hear from him yesterday, either. His spokesman, Jeremy Tomasulo, says because the issue is so sensitive, he wasn't comfortable offering a position before speaking with his boss. Mark that as a 'we don't know.'

Mills, who is likely to be the Republican Party's nominee to challenge Democrat Charles Schumer for his U.S. Senate seat, didn't return my call by last night.