Thursday May 29, 2008 — According to the New York Times, Gov. David A. Paterson has directed all state agencies to begin to revise their policies and regulations to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, like Massachusetts, California and Canada.
In a directive issued on May 14, the governor’s legal counsel, David Nocenti, instructed the agencies that gay couples married elsewhere “should be afforded the same recognition as any other legally performed union.”
The revisions are most likely to involve as many as 1,300 statutes and regulations in New York governing everything from joint filing of income tax returns to transferring fishing licenses between spouses.
In a videotaped message given to gay community leaders at a dinner on May 17, Mr. Paterson described the move as “a strong step toward marriage equality.” And people on both sides of the issue said it moved the state closer to fully legalizing same-sex unions in this state.
New York Times reports, Legal experts said Mr. Paterson’s decision would make New York the only state that did not itself allow gay marriage but fully recognized same-sex unions entered into elsewhere.
Mr. Paterson, according to the New York Times has developed strong ties to the gay community as a legislator and plans to aggressively push to legalize same-sex unions as governor. His predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, introduced a bill last year that would have legalized gay marriage, but even as he submitted it, doubted that it would pass. The Democratic-dominated Assembly passed the measure, but the Republican-led Senate has refused to call a vote on it.
Short of an act by the Legislature, the directive ordered by Mr. Paterson is the one of the strongest statements a state can make in favor of gay unions.
David Paterson and all of his body of helpers who are in place at the moment can revise all the policies they want to. Not a single one of them is bigger than God, nor is the lot of them more powerful than He is!
In Lev 18:22, it tells us that God is against this type of mating. It is an abomination to Him. He tells us in v. 24 that we must NOT defile ourselves in these things. When we sin before God in these ways, He says that it “defiles” the land and the nations and He says that He visits the “punishment” of its iniquity upon it. And we wonder why we are suffering so. Many scriptures in the Bible tell us how time after time God wooed and pursued His love and begged them to stop sinning and turn back to Him… He said that He would forgive them. They always ignored His pleading and loving kindness. And every time, in His righteous jealousy, He would allow them to be wiped out… except for the remnant.
God said for us to keep His statutes and His judgments. These statutes and judgments that He wants us to keep are “NOT” sinful acts of homosexuality! We Christians should continually pray that the Holy Spirit will help to change the perverted minds of these people who are caught up in this lifestyle so that they can get the mind of Christ. I know that we cannot go against their free will, but God is the One who knows “ALL” things. I hope and pray that many of them will see the error of their ways and come to know the Lord and truly enjoy “His” love in the “right” way. To God be the glory! Amen,
Maggie