Court rejects challenge to gay-marriage law

ALBANY -- A state appeals court rejected a challenge to New York's year-old same-sex marriage law Friday, ruling that closed-door negotiations among senators and gay-marriage supporters including Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo did not violate any laws.

The Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court in Rochester ruled against gay-marriage opponents who argued that Republican state senators violated New York's open-meetings rules ahead of the law's passage last year.

The marriage law was given final legislative approval by the state Senate after weeks of intensive lobbying and was swiftly signed by Cuomo, making New York the largest state to legalize same-sex weddings. Same-sex couples began marrying by the hundreds on July 24, 2011, the day the law became official.

"The court's decision affirms that in our state, there is marriage equality for all, and with this decision New York continues to stand as a progressive leader for the nation," Cuomo said after the court's ruling.

New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms said Cuomo and another gay-marriage supporter, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, met behind closed doors with the Senate's Republican majority in violation of the open-meetings law.