By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CITY HALL — When Dan Gabbe and his partner of 6 1/2 years registered for a domestic partnership in New York City this July, the couple had mixed feelings.
While the event was celebratory, it was also a stark reminder of the fact that they could not legally get married in New York State, said Gabbe, a 40-year-old East Village resident.
"I moved to New York almost seven years ago. I love this city. I love my partner. We're New Yorkers and we want to be married in New York," he said.
Since the State Legislature has been unsuccessful in its attempts to pass a same-sex marriage bill, the City Council is doing what little they can to get as close to marriage equality as possible under the confines of the state law, according to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
The Council passed new legislation Wednesday that requires the City Clerk to provide same-sex couples registering for domestic partnerships with a list of jurisdictions where they can be legally married, either out of the country or out-of-state.
The text, which will be posted online as well as at all marriage bureau locations, also explicitly acknowledges the fact that domestic partnerships do not provide the same benefits as marriages.
"Lawfully married individuals, including individuals in same sex marriages, are entitled to more New York State rights and benefits than those registered as domestic partners here in New York City," the text will read.
"If an individual lawfully enters into a same sex marriage in a jurisdiction outside New York, they are entitled to most of the New York State rights and benefits available to people lawfully married in New York," it will say.
Quinn, who co-sponsored the bill, praised the measure as a symbol of the city's dedication to marriage equality.
"We in the City of New York have done just about everything we can think of to make sure that all families in our five boroughs are recognized equally," she said.
She said that every time the Council finds a way "to push the law a little further as it relates to family recognition, we send a clear message to the State Senate that they have not done their job."
Others, however, said the measure is a Band-Aid solution that could thwart activists' attempts to legalize same-sex marriage in the state.
Queer Rising founder Natasha Dillon said the text is an invitation to New Yorkers to marry elsewhere, which undermines a popular argument in favor of same-sex marriage: that it will bring revenue to the state.
"It just kind of dulls the fight for us. It doesn't build up the momentum," she said.
Marriage Equality New York board president Cathy Marino-Thomas said that the ultimate goal is equality. Nonetheless, "every step is a good step," she said. "I think they're trying."
Gabbe, who also serves as a manager at MENY agreed that the bill is "a step In the right direction."
"It’s a very comfortable Band-Aid...But it's still not full rights," he said.
And as much as he and his partner would like to marry in New York, in the end, he said, the benefits may be worth the sacrifice of traveling out-of-state.
"It's just a piece of paper," he said. "But it would mean that our relationship is as equal as any other in New York State. It would mean that our future is protected."
