Court: NY has power to annul civil unions
Albany’s WCAX reports a mid-level state appeals court ruled New York has the power to annul a civil union made in another state.
The case involves two Schenectady County women who went to Vermont in April 2003 and entered into a civil union. Three years later they separated. One went to Vermont to get the union annulled, but was told she needed to live there for a year before she could apply.
The woman then asked for an annulment in the Schenectady County Supreme Court but the judge denied it, citing New York’s lack of a civil union law. She appealed.
On March 18, the appellate division unanimously ruled that the Schenectady County Supreme court has jurisdiction to annul the union.
Mass. House approves anti-bullying bill
The Boston Globe reports Massachusetts House lawmakers have unanimously approved a bill designed to clamp down on school bullies after restoring language intended to toughen the legislation.
The bill would ban bullying, require school districts to develop bullying prevention plans and expand the definition of bullying to include cyber-bullying through the use of e-mails or text messages.
The legislation would also require school officials to inform parents of their anti-bullying curriculum and alert the parents of bullies and their victims after a bullying incident.
Lawmakers approved the bill on a 148-0 vote after debating the measure for more than three hours.
YMCA refuses family membership to gay couple
Advocate.com reports a YMCA in North Carolina refused to grant its family rate to a same-sex couple that applied for membership last month.
Mark Maxwell and his partner, Timothy Young, were turned down when they applied to join the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina.
Maxwell claims he was told that the family rate doesn’t apply to same-sex couples and is only for a husband and wife who are legally married according to state law, or those who file joint tax returns.
The head of the Y that refused them says the issue of same-sex membership does not occur often.
Curt Hazelbaker, the YMCA’s president and chief executive, said the organization is due to review its membership categories, which it does every four or five years. The last time it performed such a review was in 2006.
— Larry Nichols