Monroe Community College must recognize the same-sex marriage of an employee who wed her partner in Canada, according to a state appellate court ruling that the NYSUT local president at the college has hailed as a welcome sign of progress.

In ordering the college to recognize the marriage of employee Patricia Martinez and her spouse, Lisa Ann Golden, the court held that legal same-sex marriages performed out of state must be officially recognized in New York, whose law does not recognize same-sex marriages.

"My spouse and I are thrilled beyond words with the decision," said Martinez, who brought the suit against the college, whose main campus is in suburban Rochester. "It will ... change the way everyone looks at marriage."

NYSUT solidarity

A member of the Civil Service Employees Association, Martinez got a show of solidarity from NYSUT colleagues at the college as word of the February ruling spread.

Charles Clarke, president of the Faculty Association of Monroe Community College, called the ruling "a major positive accomplishment." FAMCC extends benefits to domestic partners through its contract with the college.

"We negotiated domestic partner benefits four years ago with the criteria being essentially the same as the New York state criteria, and we saw that as a major accomplishment," Clarke said. "We have a substantial number of gay and lesbian employees, and we have a number of heterosexual employees who choose to live together without entering into a marriage."

Clarke is a professor of psychology who has taught a course on the psychology of human sexuality for 31 years.

James Sandner, general counsel for NYSUT, said, "The Martinez decision will favorably affect locals which have not been successful in negotiating domestic partner coverage to the extent that spousal health benefits must be extended to same-sex spouses who are validly married (i.e., in jurisdictions such as Ontario or Massachusetts)."

Beth Gizzi, the faculty association's grievance chairwoman, called the ruling "a step in the right direction for marriage equality in New York state."

The ruling "will ensure that all MCC employees now have the right to have their marriages recognized," Gizzi told The Clarion, the newspaper of the Professional Staff Congress, NYSUT's affiliate at the City University of New York.

Martinez and Golden were married in 2004 in Canada, where the law recognizes same-sex marriages. The newlywed Martinez, a word-processing supervisor, applied to MCC to get health care benefits for Golden.

Five months later, the then-head of the college's human resources department denied the application on the grounds that state law does not recognize same-sex marriage.

The lawsuit, filed in 2006, was initially dismissed. But the appellate court found in Martinez' and Golden's favor, citing New York's longstanding "marriage recognition rule." For the past century, courts have found if a marriage is legally valid where it was performed, it must be recognized in New York state.

Officials have said Monroe County will appeal the decision to New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals.

The CSEA local at MCC was not involved in the lawsuit but, like NYSUT, has since negotiated to add domestic partner benefits to its contract.