From the Human Rights Campaign:
[On Thursday, New York's] Governor David Paterson took a strong stand for equality for lesbian and gay couples and their families by introducing a marriage equality bill in the New York state legislature. This is a critical step to fully recognizing the love of lesbian and gay couples who are in committed relationships all across the state of New York.According to SFGate:
Newly installed New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan said Wednesday [before Paterson even introduced the bill] that he will use the prominence of his new job to challenge same-sex marriage legislation in New York.Yahoo! News says:
Gay marriage has broad support in the Democratic-controlled New York lower house, the Assembly, where it passed in a 85 to 61 vote in 2007. It was not put to a vote in the state Senate.It continues to be incomprehensible to me, why anyone would deprive people of a basic civil right just because they are lesbian or gay. How long do we have to be slaves to these neanderthal ideologies. I hope this act will strengthen Paterson's election possibilities. Unfortunately it still takes courage for a politician to support gay marriage.
The bill is again expected to be passed in the Assembly. In the Senate Democrats hold a majority for the first time in more than 40 years, but it is slim -- 32 to 30 -- and at least one Democrat has said he opposes the measure.
