New York. The National Lawyers Guild strongly opposes the New York Court of Appeals ruling upholding the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage. The Guild believes that everyone should be entitled to equal protection under the law, which includes affording the same status, privileges and protections that exist for heterosexual couples to same-sex partnerships. The judiciary traditionally understands that a fundamental right is one that must be made available to all citizens equally. It therefore reflected especially dubious reasoning when the Court acknowledged marriage as a fundamental right but then limited that concept to marriages between a man and a woman. Such a tautology undermines the very essence and value of the concept of fundamental rights. "The constitutional guarantee for liberty means that any couple should have the right to enjoy the benefits of marriage and the opportunity to raise children within a family if they choose to do so.