Same-Sex Marriage Developments

In October, state comptroller Alan G. Hevesi issued the first official opinion from the government of New York concerning the state's recognition of the foreign marriages of gay partners with regard to a concrete right to state benefits. In a letter to a state employee who had asked what his partner's state benefits would be if they got married in Canada, Hevesi wrote that the employee's spouse would be entitled to state pension funds in the same manner that a traditional, opposite-sex spouse would be. New York State already allows state employees to name same-sex partners as beneficiaries of their pension funds, but Hevesi's decision means same-sex spouses will have rights that they might not have if their partners did not voluntarily name them as pension beneficiaries. In addition, same-sex spouses will be entitled to cost-of-living increases and accidental death benefits.