Bronson marks 15 years of Marriage Equality Act, warns LGBTQ+ rights remain under threat

Assemblymember Harry B. Bronson joined LGBTQ+ advocates, community leaders and local organizations Wednesday to commemorate the 15th anniversary of New York's Marriage Equality Act, celebrating the landmark law while warning that marriage rights could once again face legal challenges.

Assemblymember Harry B. Bronson (center) was among the marriage equality advocates celebrating 15 years of the passage of New York State's Marriage Equality Act.

The event, held at Rainbow Seniors ROC, brought together representatives from Trillium Health, Roc Rainbow Union and longtime marriage equality activists to reflect on the June 24, 2011, signing of the legislation that made New York the sixth state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage.

Bronson, the only openly LGBTQ+ member of the New York State Legislature elected outside the New York City region, recalled standing alongside former Gov. Andrew Cuomo as the bill was signed into law.

"Marriage Equality is more than a law," Bronson said. "It's about the dignity, equity and opportunity to live and love openly as your authentic self, and the many rights, protections and responsibilities enshrined in legal marriage."

Bronson displayed one of the original pens used by Cuomo to sign the legislation, noting that it has since been used by numerous LGBTQ+ couples to sign their marriage licenses, including couples whose weddings he has officiated.

The Marriage Equality Act granted same-sex couples not only the legal right to marry but also access to a range of legal protections and benefits, including hospital visitation, medical decision-making authority, inheritance rights, health insurance coverage, Social Security survivor benefits and other protections previously unavailable to many LGBTQ+ families.

Advocates noted that New York's law helped build momentum for the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which established marriage equality as a constitutional right nationwide.

Despite that victory, speakers expressed concern that those protections could be vulnerable. They pointed to Justice Clarence Thomas, who suggested in his opinion following the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that the court should reconsider precedents involving same-sex marriage and other substantive due process rights.

"If federal protections were ever rolled back, state laws like New York's Marriage Equality Act would once again become critically important," Bronson said.

Among those recognized during the event were longtime activists Anne Tischer and Bess Watts, who in 2004 staged a symbolic wedding in Rochester's Washington Square Park after becoming the city's first same-sex couple to apply for — and be denied — a marriage license.

"The road to achieve marriage equality was long and difficult," Tischer and Watts said in a joint statement. "Those of us who today enjoy the security and richness of marriage are unwilling to give back even an inch of marriage protections, rights and benefits."

Other spoeakers at the event included Marriage Equality Activists Jo and Christine Meleca-Voigt; Jason Barnecut-Kearns, president and CEO of Trillium Health; Andrew Moran, board chair of Roc Rainbow Union; Bill Moehle, Brighton Town Supervisor and Charlie Lytle, board chair of Rainbow Seniors ROC.

Speakers concluded that while the Marriage Equality Act remains one of New York's most significant civil rights achievements, preserving those protections will require continued vigilance amid ongoing legal and political challenges nationwide.