Pat and Lisa

On Feb. 1, 2008 our New York’s intermediate appeals court issued a truly historic decision, recognizing the same-sex marriage of Pat Martinez and Lisa Golden.

In 2004, Pat Martinez and Lisa N. Golden, a same-sex couple from Western New York, were married in Ontario, Canada at Niagara Falls. Denied spousal health coverage by Martinez’s employer, the married couple sued. In a historic decision, a New York appellate court sitting in Rochester concluded that the couple’s valid Canadian marriage must be recognized in a 2008 court decision. Sending a strong signal that he favors same-sex marriage, New York Gov. David A. Paterson then directed all state agencies to give gay marriage couples the green light for equal rights.

At the end of July, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Western New York announced (after it was sued) that it would extend spousal health coverage to same-sex spouses.

In New York, marriage is defined as a civil contract, a promise or set of promises that a court will enforce. Prior to Paterson’s recent order, New York agencies would not enforce a marriage agreement between two people of the same sex. Because it was not enforceable in court, it was not considered a contract and therefore not a marriage. All that has changed.

It’s been an emotional fight. “I'm tired of feeling like a second-class citizen,” said Golden, “Because I fell in love with someone and it happened to be a woman.”

“This is a very important case,” said Christopher Hinesley, executive director of the Gay Alliance of Genesee Valley. “It’s going to turn the tide, in the long struggle to get equal marriage benefits to happen.” Pat and Lisa say they never set out to make it about more than just fighting for what they felt they had a right to.