CB7 Approves Same-Sex Marriages at June Meeting

Most people associate community board meetings with little more than street-cleaning schedules and disgruntled tenants, but Manhattan Community Board 7 recently proved that the scope can be larger.

CB7, which includes Morningside Heights and most of the Upper West Side, has joined part of a growing trend in New York City by advocating full legal marriage rights for same-sex couples. In June, the board's Health and Human Services Committee unanimously passed a resolution supporting the formal recognition of same-sex unions. Community Boards 2, 3, and 4 had already formed similar policies, and several more of the borough's Boards have prioritized the issue on their meeting agendas for the coming months.

In addition, Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a bill on Aug. 28 that extends New York City's domestic partnership benefits to same-sex couples who are visiting the city and have received legally recognized civil unions from other cities, states, or nations. The benefits include hospital visitation rights and health benefits.

David Thompson, a representative from the activist group Marriage Equality New York, gave a presentation on June 25 to the Health and Human Services Committee of CB7. In his presentation, he described marriage as "a fundamental human right" that is important and inalienable for couples of any sexual orientation.

"Although marriages are traditionally between men and women," Thompson said, "there is nothing inherent in the concept of marriage that places it exclusively within the heterosexual community."

An increasing number of Americans--and New Yorkers in particular--espouse Thompson's views. In addition to community board resolutions and city legislation supporting same-sex unions, The New York Times recently began printing announcements for same-sex unions alongside heterosexual marriage announcements.

At the June 25 CB7 meeting, committee members and members of the public voiced overwhelming support for same-sex marriage rights.

Marvin Edmead, CC '03 and a member of the Queer Alliance, described the resolution as a "wonderful and most positive step." But he added that much remains to be done.

According to Edmead, the issue of marital rights largely affects middle-class homosexual adults. "Enfranchisement of transgendered individuals and queer youth of color continues to be ignored," he said. Edmead stressed that legal recognition of same-sex unions will make the greatest impact if viewed as a starting point rather than an endzone for political progress.

CB7 is no stranger to social activism. In January, for instance, the board examined the issue of AIDS awareness among the city's over-50 population, which has a relatively high HIV infection rate.

When it considered same-sex unions, CB7 examined the issue not only from a social justice perspective, but also in light of existing laws and enumerated rights.

"The US Supreme Court in 1967 declared that the ëfreedom to marry' belongs to all Americans," Thompson said. "As a fundamental right, there is a special imperative upon the state to demonstrate overwhelming harm caused by the unrestricted exercise of that right, if the state chooses to limit that right in any way. As there has been no proof that same-sex marriages cause harm to anyone, the state should not deny their existence."