An Italian judge has ordered the
recognition of a gay couple's marriage contracted in New York City.
Giuseppe Chigiotti, 68, and Stefano
Bucci, 57,married in the Big Apple in December 2012. New York
lawmakers approved a gay marriage law in 2011.
In his 5-page opinion, Judge Paolo
Cesare Ottati of the Civil Court of Grosseto (Tuscany) affirmed that
“a same-sex marriage contracted abroad is not against the Italian
laws.”
“It's undisputed that this marriage
produces lawful effects in the State [in] which [it] was performed
(New York, USA) and it is not against [those] laws,” Ottati
concluded.
Blog Agere
per Formulas noted that the order is a first for Italy, which
currently does not recognize the relationships of gay and lesbian
couples. Gay rights advocates hailed the ruling.