To the Editor:

Re “Legal Status Brings Security to Some Same-Sex Marriages” (news article, May 22):

It is heartening to learn that a judge in Massachusetts has ruled in favor of same-sex couples from New York who went to the state in pursuit of legally recognized unions.

As one of five plaintiff couples in Hernandez v. Robles, Lambda Legal’s historic lawsuit seeking marriage equality for same-sex couples in New York State, we are acutely aware of the importance of any level of legal sanction for gay and lesbian relationships.

Same-sex couples in New York seek nothing more than the same recognition and rights as those available to our counterparts in Massachusetts and that heterosexuals take for granted. This will involve, in no small part, working to change hearts and minds.

Let’s hope that the State Legislature does what the Court of Appeals failed to do: grant equal civil marriage protections for all New Yorkers.

Jo-Ann Shain
May Jo Kennedy
Brooklyn, May 22, 2007

Note from KBJ: Different-species couples seek nothing more than the same recognition and rights that same-species couples take for granted.