Yesterday, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that barring marriage for same-sex couples does not violate the State Constitution. It was an appalling ruling–but only shifts the battle from the courts to the legislature.

This is an issue that every union member needs care about. Discrimination is discrimination is discrimination. Period. Not all union contracts extend benefits to “domestic partners”–marriage, in our society, for better or worse, still confers on people benefits and protections that they do not have when they are not married. So, unmarried gay and lesbian couples are the victims of discrimination in employment benefits. No union can, or should, put up with that.