'Gay' Label No Longer Slanderous, N.Y. Court Rules

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Overturning a nearly three-decade old legal precedent, a New York appellate court this week ruled that a statement labeling someone as gay cannot be defamatory per se.

In the seven-page decision by the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division Third Judicial Department in the case, Yonaty v. Mincolla (Case No. 512996), Judge Thomas E. Mercure wrote that as a matter of law, falsely stating that an individual is gay is not slanderous per se, and that past state court rulings are "inconsistent with current public policy and should no longer be followed."

Acknowledging, for example, the New York Legislature's passage in June 2011, of  the Marriage Equality Act [Domestic Relations Law Sec. 10-a, as amended by L2011, ch 95, Sec. 3] that granted same-sex couples the right to marry in New York, the appellate court overruled Matherson v. Marchello, 100 A.D.2d 233, 241-242 (2d Dept. 1984), which considered allegations of homosexuality defamatory per se in light of the then-existing "social opprobrium of homosexuality."

According to accounts by the Associated Press and the Media Law Prof Blog, in the present case, plaintiff Mark Yonaty alleged that defendant Jean Mincolla spread a rumor that Yonaty was gay intending that it harm Yonaty's relationship with his girlfriend, which he claimed it did. As reported by this blog [see "TUOL" post 6/24/11], Broome County Supreme Court Justice Phillip R. Rumsey  previously denied Mincolla's motion for summary judgment to dismiss the suit.

NY Judge: Falsely Labeling Someone Homosexual Libel Per Se

Image via WikipediaEvolving social mores are clashing head-on with legal precedent in New York, as illustrated by the state's Legislature debating legalizing same-sex marriage at the same time Broome County Supreme Court Justice Phillip R. Rumsey this week denied a summary judgment motion to dismiss a defamation suit in which the underlying alleged libelous statement involved imputing that an individual was gay.

As reported in The New York Law Journal, in the case of Yonaty v. Mincolla (Case No. 1003-2009), Justice Rumsey ruled imputing homosexuality to an individual constitutes libel per se.  Mark Yonaty, who denies being gay, has sued Jean Mincolla, alleging his betrothed broke off their engagement after she was advised that he was gay or bisexual. Mincolla then sued Ruthanne Koffman, who allegedly repeated the allegation to the plaintiff's girl friend's mother, according to the Journal article. 

Acknowledging changing societal perceptions about homosexual conduct, which long ago was against the law in New York, Justice Rumsey nonetheless said he was bound by legal precedent and the ample body of New York case law that holds false accusations of homosexuality rise to the level of defamation per se.

The Court of Appeals, the Empire State's highest court, declared New York's sodomy law unconstitutional in 1980, but has yet to weigh in on the question of whether imputing sexual orientation to an individual should be grounds for a defamation action.