Thank You Thursdays: NY Gov. Paterson to Introduce Same-Sex Marriage Bill
Gov. David A. Paterson on Thursday announced that he would introduce a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, drawing on the soaring oratory of the civil rights movement to call on the Legislature to add New York to the four states that have already authorized such unions.Comparing the status of gay men and lesbians with that of blacks, Jews, women, disabled people and other groups who were historically excluded from full political and social equality, Mr. Paterson said he would lead the movement to authorize same-sex marriage in the Empire State. "We have a crisis of leadership today," he declared. "We're going to fill that vacuum today."
More on his announcement here.
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Finally! Hopefully Equality and Justice Day this year will be the last year we need to lobby for marriage equality!!
I am a proud NY'er and I would love nothing more than to see this passed. But I did hear that there is simply not enough support for it to pass at this time. While downstate NY is mostly liberal, upstate is the complete opposite and poses a problem for the bill. I do hope for the best though, NY needs this.
It is cool though that some of female Republican Assembly members from upstate are the most supportive.
Deffinitly. It would be so nice to see NY pull together to get this passed. :D
And for his next trick, Gov Paterson is going to become a good governor!
Also, Washington state passed a civil union bill yesterday.
Not marriage per se, but we've seen what happens in the courts every time a state has set up a separate institution that is allegedly equal.
*dances some more* Picking them off one by one. I hope it passes the legislature.
I sure hope that each individual person does everything possible to make this happen. It is absolutely necessary to disregard the "not enough support" message being spread. Do our equal rights to civil marriage have to wait until someone gives their OK? I hope not!
Does anyone in the area have any suggestions for getting involved? I'm new to all of this forever, but I'd really like to ... DO something to support this!
I am not from NY, but I'd imagine the biggest thing you can do is call/write/email your state representatives, since that seems to be the route NY is taking. If you find out who your state representative is, just give their office a call. If you've never done it before, it's really easy. An intern usually answers, and you can usually find a script or just say a few sentences about how you want her/him to vote.
Also, I did a quick google search, and found this: http://www.meny.us/involve.php. Hopefully that helps and you get involved with the movement. I was active in the No on 8 campaign in California, and even though we all know how that turned out, I feel really proud of the work I did! Good luck!
Write letters, make phone calls. Emails are good too, but they have much less impact. Handwritten letters are the best way to make contact with state representatives. Remind them that it isn't only heterosexist people who vote.
It would be nice if this was posted with a little context about how this is going over with same-sex marriage activists in NY--not everyone is so happy with the idea of risking the spectacle of having this get voted down in the Senate just so Paterson can look like a pioneer, though at least we have a prayer of bringing it to a Senate vote this time. When Spitzer introduced the same bill when he was in office, it passed the Assembly and got squashed by the then-Republican Senate. After a Democratic majority was elected to the State Senate this past fall for the first time in decades, leadership almost fell apart completely because of a few so-called-Democrats who are rabidly opposed to seeing this bill become NY law.
And where's gender-identity inclusive employment non-discrimination law (GENDA) in all of Paterson's lofty rhetoric?
This is a great step, but we've been in this position before and I'm not giving Gov. Paterson a cookie until he actually gets something done for LGBT NYers. And stops screwing over our state universities with ridiculous tuition increases that don't put money back into the schools but make it harder for students without deep pockets (say, LGBT students whose parents aren't supportive...) to graduate.
That would be the same Paterson who joined a rally supporting the bombing of Gaza right? Yeah Ok.
He's absolutely right: We have a crisis of leadership today.
I think that this is a great step forward. My friends range from straight to bi to gay and I would like to see a nation (not just a state) give them equal rights to everything that I enjoyed.
I was out of state when this happened, and got a text from my girlfriend full of exclaimation points while on a subway in boston. I gave an involuntary joy-yelp and everyone looked at me funny :)
There is a risk that it will not pass the legislature, and I am afraid that if that happens there will be a spike in hate crimes here like there was in california after the passage of prop 8. However! I would rather we make the effort and encounter a setback than not make the effort at all. Whatever happens this round, equality will come out on top in the end.
Equality and justice day is coming up, and if, like many of us, you have work or class or whatever else going on that day and can't make it to albany, then take a moment out of your day and write a letter or make a phone call. It's almost finals week at my college, so many of my classmates and I can't make it. Instead we are having a letter-writing party in our dorm, to try and make out absent voices heard. Get it, NY!