State

On 26 September 2011, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed S1303/A880 into law requiring the New York State Office of the Aging (NYSOFA) to assess the needs of elderly populations including those in LGBT communities. The law will also provide technical assistance and grants-in-aid to organizations that provide services to LGBT seniors [R1.1].

State

With the recognition of same-sex marriage, same-sex parents who break up have the same custody rights to their children as heterosexual couples. But non-biological parents should still consider adopting their child, especially if they ever see themselves moving out of state. A co-parent adoption should probably cost no more than $5,000 [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 02 April 2013, Suffolk County Family Court Judge Theresa Whelan in an opinion published 18 April 2013, ruled a biological mother who was awarded child support from her former same-sex partner cannot stop her from seeking custody by arguing she is not legally a parent [C2.10], [R2.9].

On 19 February 2013, Supreme Court Justice John C. Bivona ruled that that Mercedes Counihan had no parental rights with regard to her former partner Molly Bishop's biological child, Counihan never having adopted the child before the gay marriage laws took effect [R2.8].

In May 2010, the Court of Appeals reportedly had ruled that a woman who entered into a civil union with her partner in Vermont can apply for visitation rights for her nonbiological child following the couple's split [C2.7], [R2.6].

In May 2002, an appellate court in Brooklyn overturned a ruling that granted visitation rights over a biological mother's objections, to her lesbian former partner who helped raise their two children, ruling unanimously that only the state's highest court or the legislature can establish such an extension of visiting rights [R2.5].

In December 2000, New York state supreme court judge Marilyn Diamond granted a gay father custody of his 3-year-old son, ruling that the child’s interests are best served by living with the father, and the surrogate mother was ordered to pay child support [R2.4].

In October 2000, a woman who helped raise two children was awarded permanent visitation rights. Associated Press reports that the rights were granted despite objections from the woman's ex-lover. It is considered to be the first ruling of its kind in New York [R2.3].

In July 2000, State Family Court Judge Joan O. Cooney entered new legal ground when she temporarily granted Janis C visiting rights - a first for a same-sex couple in New York State [R2.2].

In June 1998, a New York appeals court unanimously ruled that a lesbian had no legal standing to seek custody of her ex-partner's biological child [R2.1].

National

On 24 June 2002, President Bush signed legislation that allows death benefits for public safety officers killed Sept. 11 to go to a beneficiary other than an immediate family member [R1.1].

Up to now, the federal $250,000 death benefit was paid only to spouses, children and parents of fallen officers.

This is believed to be the first time a federal benefit would be available to a survivor in a gay partnership

State

In April 2011, Department of Correctional Services regulations were changed (1) to allow conjugal visits ("family reunions") for gay prison inmates involved in same-sex marriages or civil unions; and (2) to allow gay prisoners to take leave from their cell when their loved one is terminally ill [R2.7].

In June 2010, a bill that would grant funeral or bereavement leave on the death of a same-sex partner passed the state senate 50–11. The Bill had already passed the Democratic-controlled assembly [R2.6].

In October 2004, New York State was moving to officially recognize same-sex marriages from Canada for the first time, at least in one limited area: State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi has ruled that the state's pension system will treat gay couples with Canadian wedding licenses the same way it treats other married couples [R2.5].

In October 2001, New York Governor George Pataki issued an executive order, granting the surviving partners of gay and lesbian victims of the September 11 World Trade Center attacks benefits equal to those of the spouses of heterosexual victims [R2.4].

Lesbian and gay survivors whose partners died in the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center will also receive workers' compensation under a state law that took effect 21 August 2002 [R2.3].

In December 2002 however, in two separate rulings issued less than two weeks apart, the New York State Workers' Compensation Board offered two divergent views on whether a gay man or lesbian who loses a domestic partner in a workplace-related death is eligible for "spousal benefits" [R2.2].

In May 2002, the New York state assembly and senate unanimously passed the September 11th Victims and Families Relief Act (A.11290, S. 7356), which includes recognition of same-sex partnerships [R2.1].

County

In December 2001, legislators in Albany County approved medical insurance for county employees in domestic partner relationships [R3.3].

In November 2002, Westchester County opened its newly created domestic-partner registry which recognizes gay and lesbian couples for municipal services and guarantees visitation rights in hospitals and other institutions. A registration fee of $35 is payable [R3.2].

In July 2002, Suffolk County lawmakers proposed a registry measure.

In July 2003, Nassau County agreed to extend health insurance and other benefits enjoyed by married couples to the domestic partners of its employees, including those in gay and lesbian relationships, under the tentative contract deal reached with the Civil Service Employees Association [R3.1].

To qualify, the partners must be in a "committed relationship ... of lasting duration" and live together. They cannot have had a different domestic partner within six months or be married to anyone else. An employee and his or her partner would have to file a Domestic Partner Affidavit the county would design.

Cities & Towns

New York City, Rochester and Ithaca municipalities have established domestic partner registries.

From 03 June 2010, New York City intends to offer more elaborate ceremonies for same-sex couples who register as domestic partners [R4.5].

In May 2004, the New York City Council approved legislation to require companies that contract with the city to offer domestic partner benefits to employees [R4.4].

In August 2002, the New York City Council has approved a bill extending domestic partnership rights to legally sanctioned, same-sex couples visiting New York [R4.3].

In July 1998, unmarried couples including gays and lesbians in New York City will be treated the same as those who are married under landmark legislation [R4.2].

In March 2003, Southampton's town board has voted to create a domestic registry open to any town resident who is unmarried, old enough to sign a contract, and willing to swear to provide emotional and economic support for a partner [R4.1].

In March 2003, East Hampton passed a similar measure in September, and both Huntington Town and the village of Greenport are considering registries [R4.5].

Courts & Tribunals

On 04 April 2012, Supreme Court Justice Matthew Cooper granted Louis Viel's petition for dissolution of his Vermont civil union with Gregory Williams. Under Vermont law, couples seeking to dissolve a civil union must live in the state for one year before a final adjudication but New York Courts have exercised jurisdiction over such out-of-state unions as a matter of comity [R5.6].

On 21 July 2011, the Supreme Court, Appellate Division Third Judicial Department held in Dickerson v. Thompson that with the imminent emergence of same sex marriage in New York, New York gay residents may dissolve a Vermont civil Union in New York [C5.5], [R5.4].

On 18 July 2011, Justice Drager in the New York Supreme Court resolved the parental status of a civil union partner in ruling favorably on a motion for summary judgment to dissolve a Vermont civil union [C5.3], [R5.2].

In October 2008, a mid-level New York State appeals court in Albany heard arguments in a challenge to the state's health benefit policy for spouses of gay state workers [R5.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 31 May 2012, the Supreme Court, Appellate Division Third Judicial Department overturned its own precedent and rejected those of the three other Appellate Division departments in abandoning a long-standing legal assumption that falsely labeling someone as lesbian, gay or bisexual is inherently defamatory [C1.4], [R1.3].

On 08 June 2011, Broome County Supreme Court Justice Phillip R. Rumsey determined that New York law still regards a “false imputation of homosexuality” as being defamatory per se, so the plaintiff can maintain his lawsuit without having to allege any financial damages [C1.2], [R1.1].

State

The Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act or SONDA protects people from sexual orientation-based abuse, harassment, and discrimination in employment, housing, education, and public services [R1.5]. The law came into effect on 17 January 2003.

On Bills A04226 and S 00195, would were they to become law, prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or expression and include offenses regarding gender identity or expression under the hate crimes statute [L1.4].

Previously:

A proposed amendment to SONDA to add specific protections for transgendered residents--ranging from cross-dressers to people undergoing sex-change procedures--failed, 19-41.

In December 2002, Republican New York governor George Pataki signed the bill into law, outlawing discrimination against gay men and lesbians in the state, 31 years after advocates began lobbying for it [R1.4].

In October 2002, the leader of New York's Republican-controlled state senate said lawmakers will return to session in December to pass the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act [SONDA] [R1.3].

In January 2002, the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act was passed by the state Assembly after earlier being endorsed by the governor earlier [R1.2].

In February 2001, a bill to ban antigay discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodation cleared the New York state assembly 113-33 [R1.1].

County

In December 2000, Nassau County legislature passed a bill making it illegal to discriminate against gay people [R2.1].

Westchester County has made anti-gay job discrimination unlawful. Nassau and Suffolk have amended their counties' human rights laws to protect gays.

Cities & Towns

In April 2002, Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed into law a bill that extended New York City's human rights protection, which already prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender and sexual orientation, to explicity include transgendered people - a group that includes cross-dressers and people who have had or will soon have sex-change surgery [R3.2].

In September 1999, the City Of Buffalo Common Council amended Chapter 154 of the city code to provide relief for any person who experienced property damage and or physical injury or death due to discrimination or bias based upon race, creed, national origin, sex, disability, age or sexual orientation [R3.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 03 December 2012, US District Judge Samuel Conti ruled that two New York realtors violated city law in their responses to a prospective tenant living with AIDS who sought an apartment with financial support from the HIV/ AIDS Services Administration (HASA), awarding the plaintiff, Keith Short, $20,000 in damages, and also awarding $5,000 in expense reimbursement to the Fair Housing Justice Center (FHJC) and issuing expansive injunctive relief against the defendants [C4.6], [R4.5].

On 08 February 2011, the New York Appellate Division, 2nd Department unanimously ruled that the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) in Northern Westchester County did not violate the County’s Human Rights Ordinance when they extended domestic partnership benefits to same-sex partners of county employees but refused to extend the benefits to the unmarried different-sex partner of an employee [R4.4].

In January 2010, The Department of Justice asked a judge for permission to intervene in a 15-year-old student's lawsuit against Mohawk Central School District, who claims he was bullied for being effeminate [R4.3].

See also: Violence: Harassment 3. Courts & Tribunals [R3.8].

In July 2001, the Court of Appeals ruled that a lesbian couple should be allowed to sue Yeshiva University for bias based on sexual orientation for not allowing them share college housing available to married students [R4.2].

In October 2000, New York City agreed to pay a US$20,000 out of court settlement to Elizabeth Bryant, a former police officer who claimed in a lawsuit that she was discriminated against for being gay, together with US$30,000 in fees, bringing the total value of the settlement to US$50,000 [R4.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 07 January 2013, the US Supreme Court set the case United States v. Windsor, Edith S, et al. for argument on 27 March 2013 [C2.18]. A decision was expected in June 2013.

On 07 December 2012, the Supreme Court indicated that it will hear the challenge by an elderly lesbian widow, Edith Windsor, against the Defense of Marriage Act (United States v. Windsor, Edith S, et al.) and another to the California marriage ban, called Proposition 8 (Dennis Hollingsworth, et al., Petitioners v. Kristin M. Perry, et al.). A hearing is expected in March and a decision in June 2013 [C2.18], [R2.17].

On 26 October 2012, the Justice Department filed a brief in the US Supreme Court seeking prioritization of the Edith Schlain Windsor v. USA case, perhaps suggesting that the “heightened judicial scrutiny” issue was the basis of the application [R2.16].

On 18 October 2012, the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York in Edith Schlain Windsor v. USA, found DOMA unconstitutional in a 2–1 ruling, holding that laws that classify individuals based on sexual orientation should receive a more exacting level of judicial review, known as “heightened scrutiny” [C2.15], [R2.14].

On 24 September 2012, the US Supreme Court distributed the case of Edith Windsor v. USA for a conference of the justices meeting privately that will decide whether the full Court will review the case [C2.13], [R2.12].

On 19 August 2012, Judge Robert Michael Mandelbaum who has been married to a man since 2011, was reportedly challenging the stipulation in his father Frank Mandelbaum's Will that his child will only receive his inheritance if Robert is married to a woman [C2.11], [R2.10].

On 01 August 2012, aided by Lambda Legal, a building landlord and management company agreed to settle a dispute and comply with city and state laws by putting both lesbian women's names on the lease for their rent-stabilized Harlem apartment [R2.9].

On 16 July 2012, the ACLU filed a petition asking the US Supreme Court to review the ACLU's challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act on behalf of Edie Windsor [C2.8], [R2.7].

On 06 June 2012, Judge Barbara Jones in the Manhattan Federal Court became the fifth judge to find the 1996 DOMA law unconstitutional, saying the law intrudes “upon the states' business of regulating domestic relations” and ordering $353,053 in federal estate tax be returned to the Plaintiff Edith Windsor [C2.6], [R2.5].

On 14 September 2010 Judge Kristin Booth Glen ruled that the late H. Kenneth Ranftle was domiciled in New York at the time of his death, rejecting a challenge to the probating of his Will brought by brother, Ronald Ranftle, who argued that the deceased was a Florida domiciliary where the deceased's marriage was not recognised, thereby affecting the status of the sole distributee and as executor of the estate under the Will [C2.4], [R2.3].

Previously

On 24 February 2011, a four-judge panel in the Appellate Division, First Department, held In re Estate of H. Kenneth Ranftle, 4214, that recognizing the marriage in Canada of H. Kenneth Ranftle and J. Craig Leiby, who was designated as Mr. Ranftle's 'surviving spouse and sole distributee,' did not violate public policy" [C2.2], [R2.1].

State

There is no state-wide law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identification [R1.8].

On 01 February 2013, Bill A04226 and (on 09 January 2013) Bill S 00195 were introduced into the legislature, and would were they to become law, prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or expression and include offenses regarding gender identity or expression under the hate crimes statute [L1.7].

On 30 April 2012, the Assembly passed the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, or GENDA (A5039/S6349), for the fifth time in five years. It has yet to pass the Senate [R1.6].

On 08 June 2010, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, which would protect against discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression in areas like housing and employment, died in the senate judiciary committee [R1.5].

On 03 March 2010, for the third time the State assembly passed the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act 91–40. The Act would protect transgender people under the state's Human Rights Law. It has yet to pass the Senate [R1.4].

On 16 December 2009, governor David Paterson signed an executive order broadening nondiscrimination protections for transgender state employees in employment [R1.3].

On 21 April 2009, the New York State Assembly passed the Gender Expression Non-discrimination Act making discrimination based on gender identity and expression in employment, housing, public accommodations, access to credit, and other key areas unlawful. It also adds gender identity and expression as protected categories in the state's human rights law [R1.2]. The Bill was yet to pass the Senate Ibid.

In June 2008, the Assembly voted to include gender identity and expression in anti-discrimination protections in the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), passed by 102 votes to 33. It would ban discrimination against transgender people in housing, employment, credit and public accommodations, among other protections. The Bill has yet to pass the Senate [R1.1].

Cities & Towns

On 19 November 2012, the city of Syracuse Common Council voted 7–1 to approve a bill to amend the existing Syracuse Fair Practices Law to include gender identity and expression as protected categories from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations [L2.5], [R2.4].

On 07 February 2011, the City of New York adopted a new policy to ensure that transgender people have equal access to marriage licenses. Once a marriage license applicant produces the required photo ID, the City Clerk may not request additional proof of sex. City Clerk employees are forbidden from considering the applicant's appearance or preconceived notions related to gender expression when deciding whether to issue a marriage license [R2.3].

In June 2008, transgender youth in New York's juvenile detention centers were allowed to wear whatever uniform they choose, be called by whatever name they want and ask for special housing under a new anti-discrimination policy [R2.2].

In April 2002, the New York City council on Wednesday voted 45-5 in favor of a bill to extend nondiscrimination protections to transgendered people [R2.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 16 March 2012, Justice Paul G Feinman in the Manhattan State Supreme Court severely criticised the health officials of the city for the complex bureaucratic requirements that trans men and women must negotiate in order to update details on their identity documents, reprimanding them for not providing a "clear, straightforward list" of what it takes to amend the birth certificate [C3.7], [R3.6].

On 17 and 22 March 2011, the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund filed lawsuits against the City of New York and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene challenging the city's practice of requiring transgender people to undergo surgery before it will issue them birth certificates with corrected sex designations [R3.5], [C3.4], [C3.3].

On 21 October 2009, Justices Douglas E. McKeon, Martin Schoenfeld and Martin Shulman in the State Supreme Court ruled that a transgender person seeking judicial permission to change her or his name should not be required to furnish medical documentation justifying the change [R3.2].

In January 2003, a district court judge ruled that physical anatomy is irrelevant to gender identity [R3.1].

State

In July 2000, Gov. George Pataki signed New York state's new hate-crimes law. The law stiffens penalties for many crimes if they are motivated by bias against a victim's race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability or age [R1.2].

Previously:

In June 2000, both houses of the New York State Legislature today approved a bill to enhance penalties for hate motivated offenses, including crimes motivated by anti-gay hate [R1.1].

State

On 27 April 2010, the Senate voted to pass a bill protecting low-income New Yorkers living with HIV and AIDS from having to choose between paying rent and buying groceries. The bill went to Governor Paterson to sign it into law [R1.2].

In June 1998, the State Assembly passed legislation requiring New York doctors to report the names of people living with HIV and AIDS to state authorities and notify their sexual partners. However, patients refusing to give the names will not be penalised [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 26 April 2010, US District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin held the City of New York in contempt of court for failing to stop enforcing loitering laws that were ruled unconstitutional more than 20 years ago [R1.2].

On 12 August 2009, U.S. district judge Denny Chin ruled that claims about homosexuality have no place in a defamation lawsuit [R1.1].

State

On 24 June 2011, the Senate passed the Marriage Equality Act 33–29. Religious institutions and nonprofit groups with religious affiliations are exempted. US citizens do not need to be a resident of the state in order to get married in New York. According to CNN, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law late Friday night just before midnight. The law will take effect on July 24 [L1.9], [R1.8].

Office of the City Clerk: Marriage License Application.

On 15 June 2011, the Assembly passed the Marriage Equality bill in a 80 to 63 vote for the fourth, and perhaps the final. The measure now awaits consideration by the Senate [L1.7], [R1.6].

On 10 May 2011, Assembly Member Daniel O'Donnell introduced A7600, the Marriage Equality Act, to establish equal rights, responsibilities, benefits and protections for all married couples, regardless of the sex of the parties to a civil marriage [R1.5].

Previously:

On 02 December 2009, the Senate voted down a marriage equality bill 38–24 [R1.4].

On 12 May 2009, the Assembly passed a bill to legalise gay marriage. If it passes a Senate vote, it will then go to the Governor David Paterson [R1.3].

In April 2009, Governor David Paterson confirmed he would introduce legislation to make gay marriage legal in the state [R1.2].

On 27 February 2004, New Paltz Mayor Jason West, a Latham native, bucked the system performing 25 same sex marriages on the lawn outside village hall. West was later charged with breaking the law and the state ruled the marriages invalid [R1.1].

In 1999, the legislature failed in an attempt to make void the lawful marriages between same-sex couples if they returned to, come to or travel through New York. Three previous attempts to prohibit marriages between same-sex couples have failed.

Courts & Tribunals

On 23 October 2012, the State Court of Appeals declined to hear a challenge to the state's marriage equality law in New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms et al v. New York State Senate et al, effectively ending any threat to the measure passed last year [R2.13].

On 06 July 2012, the Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department dismissed the New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms claim that the Open Meetings Law was violated when the Governor and Mayor met Senate Republicans behind closed doors to discuss marriage legislation [C2.12], [R2.11].

On 26 July 2011, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed papers in US federal court in Manhattan saying the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, violates same-sex couples' right to equal protection under the US Constitution [R2.10].

On 18 May 2011, 2nd Appellate Department Acting Supreme Court Justice John Kelly of Suffolk County Supreme Court ruled that although a same-sex couple cannot get married in New York, not only will their valid marriage from another jurisdiction be recognized here, but the state courts will be available to them in case the marriage fails and they seek a divorce [C2.9], [R2.8].

In December 2010, State Supreme Court Judge Hugh A Gilbert granted a divorce to Dr. Daniel S. DeBlasio and Alan B. Tuttle, who had been legally married outside the state. The first such dissolution in Jefferson County [R2.7].

On 18 March 2010, the New York supreme court appellate division held that the state has the power to annul a civil union established in another state [R2.6].

On 19 November 2009, the New York state court of appeals, upheld the recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions where they are legal, in a ruling applying only to the specific cases under consideration [R2.5].

On 02 September 2008, the New York supreme court ruled that Gov. David Paterson acted within his gubernatorial powers when he issued an executive order requiring state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries. Same-sex marriage has yet to be legalized in New York State [R2.4].

In February 2008, a New York Appeals court ruled that civil unions and same-sex marriage must be recognised in New York [R2.3].

Previously:

In February 2005, a judge declared that a law banning same-sex marriage violates the state constitution, a first-of-its-kind ruling in New York that would clear the way for gay couples to wed if it survives on appeal [R2.2].

In September 2007, a New York state court upheld a decision to recognise Canadian same-sex marriage when it comes to the state's retirement system [R2.1].

State

On 19 September 2010, governor David Paterson reportedly signed a law that allows unmarried partners, including same-sex couples, to jointly adopt children [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 18 July 2011, in dissolving a Vermont civil union, Justice Laura E Drager ruled, "Under the unique facts of this proceeding where the defendant did not form a parental relationship with the plaintiff's adopted daughter, and the parties to this civil union separated prior to the plaintiff's adoption of the child, the court finds that defendant has no parental rights or obligations with regard to the plaintiff's daughter, notwithstanding the fact that the adoption occurred during the existence of the civil union" [C2.8], [R2.7].

In May 2010, the Court of Appeals reportedly had ruled (4–3) that a woman has the right to seek child support from her former partner, even though she is not the biological parent [R2.6].

In August 2001, a Staten Island Surrogate Court Judge John Fusco ruled that a lesbian could adopt the twins of her lesbian partner [R2.5].

His ruling marks the third time an adoption has been approved to a same-sex couple in Richmond County, and the first for a lesbian couple.

In 1997, in the first case of its kind, a Family Court Judge allowed two lesbians, who used the same sperm donor to conceive their children, to cross-adopt each other's daughters [R2.4].

On 02 November 1995, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that a couple, homosexual or heterosexual, do not have to be married to adopt a child. Under the ruling, the adopted child of an unmarried couple is entitled to rights and privileges from both parents, including health benefits, Social Security payments and inheritances [C1.3], [R2.5].

On 02 May 1991, the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Division that the non-biological partner of the mother of a child is not a parent within the meaning of Domestic Relations Law §70, even though she had apparently nurtured a close and loving relationship with the child [C1.2], [D1.1].

State

Due 17 April 2012, the State tax return takes its numbers from the federal return, so if your filing status is different for the state return from the federal return, which it will be for same sex couples, then you have to do multiple federal returns [R1.4], [R1.3].

As at 29 July 2011, same-sex married couples must file New York personal income tax returns as married, even though their marital status is not recognized for federal tax purposes [D1.2], [R1.1].

State

On 19 March 2012, the Board of Regents approved a regulation based on an interpretation of Education Law section 801-a, enacted in 2000, that exempted charter schools from state requirements "on civility, citizenship and character education", thus exempting charter schools from key provisions of the Dignity for All Students Act [R1.5], [R1.4].

On 08 September 2010, governor David Paterson signed the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA), a long-awaited anti-bullying law that, in a first for the state, includes protections for gender identity and expression. The law requires school districts to report incidents of bias and harassment to the state department of education, and includes provisions for teacher training and guidelines [R1.3].

In August 2008, ten New York Republican Senators introduced legislation to the State Senate that would ban homophobic bullying in schools [R1.2].

In July 2008, Governor David Paterson agreed to sign a major expansion of New York State's domestic violence laws, allowing family court judges to file civil protection orders against a broader range of abusers, including those involved in dating relationships [R1.1].

Cities & Towns

In September 2008, a New York City Department of Education initiative "prohibits students from bullying other students for any reason, including taunting and/or intimidation through the use of epithets or slurs involving race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation or disability" [R2.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 04 May 2012, in Redd v. NYS Division of Parole, 2012 WL 1560403 (C.A.2 (N.Y.)), Judge Amalya L. Kearse of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a district court's ruling dismissing the hostile work environment claim of a female parole officer, brought under Title VII, alleging several instances of a female supervisor touching her breasts [C3.12], [R3.11].

On 30 June 2011, a five-judge panel of the Appellate Division, 3rd Dept., ruled 4-1 that the Ithaca School District (a public school) is covered by the Human Rights Law and affirmed the Divison's award of damages and injunctive relief. The ruling disagrees with the 2nd Department's ruling in East Meadow Union Free School District v. New York State Division of Human Rights, 65 App.Div.3d 1342 (2009), leave to appeal denied, 14 N.Y.3d 710 (2010) [C3.10], [R3.9].

On 29 March 2010, a gay teenager who said he was the target of intense bullying from his classmates at an upstate New York public high school while school officials did virtually nothing reached an out-of-court settlement. The school district is required to hire an expert consultant on harassment and discrimination to review the district's policies. Annual training for faculty and staff is also required. And the district must file annual compliance reports with the U.S. government [R3.8].

In February 2010, the US Department of Justice for the first time since 2000, was seeking to intervene in a gay harassment lawsuit against a New York school district that it says raises important civil rights issues, arguing that Title IX of the antidiscrimination law affecting schools that receive federal funding, covers sex discrimination based on gender stereotypes [R3.7].

In October 2002, Northern District of New York federal U.S. Magistrate Judge Randolph F. Treece in Albany held that a claim of harassment based on sexual orientation is not actionable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 [R3.6].

On 22 August 2000, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled a gay postal worker who suffered severe harassment and "appalling persecution" for more than a decade had no recourse under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act because the abuse was based on sexual orientation, rather than sex [C3.5], [R3.4].

In March 2000, former Nassau County police officer James M. Quinn, who was awarded US$500,000 in a discrimination lawsuit against the cash-starved county finally collected his money, after his lawyer froze US$1 million in county assets [R3.3].

In June 1999, the former Long Island police officer James M. Quinn was awarded US$380,000 by a federal US District Court jury verdict because he faced antigay harassment [R3.2].

In April 1999, Supreme Court Judge John Leventhal ruled that a gay man who killed his lover can use the "battered-wife syndrome" as a defence at his trial [R3.1].

Courts & Tribunals

In April 2003, Nassau County Supreme Court Justice John P. Dunne ruled that a gay man joined in a Vermont civil union can sue a hospital as the spouse of another man who died a year ago, in what is believed to be an unprecedented decision [R1.2].

Justice Dunne said that state law allows a common-law spouse from another state to sue for wrongful death and that same right should be afforded to a same-sex partner joined by Vermont's civil union law. He noted that state law does not define "spouses" as being of different sexes [R1.2].

Previously:

In January 2003, the New York wrongful death law was challenged by the man who alleges his partner died after routine surgery turned fatal [C1.1], [R1.1].

New York law allows spouses, children, parents, siblings, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and other specified relatives to sue for wrongful death.