New York State Senate to Vote On Marriage Equality?

Posted by Adam Bink, Open Left at 5:19 AM on November 6, 2009.

After losses like the one in Maine, I always feel like the best way to channel anger is into the next fight. Well, we've got one on our hands. Empire State Pride Agenda just e-mailed out the following:

Marriage equality has been an issue Governor Paterson has long championed and we are thrilled he has called the State Senate back to Albany next Tuesday and put the marriage equality bill on the agenda. We now expect that we will get the respectful debate and vote that we've been waiting for since June.

There is never a wrong time or inconvenient time to debate human rights legislation because it's always the right time. As long as a group of New Yorkers are being denied equal rights, addressing issues like marriage equality must always be a priority. Support for providing equal rights to LGBT New Yorkers has always been bipartisan, and we expect that this bill will be no different.

We look forward to hearing our lives and our families debated on the Senate floor next Tuesday. It's now time that each of the 62 State Senators vote their conscience on this bill that has great implications for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers in all parts of the state.

For more background, Paul Schindler at Gay City News has the story. It appears we either have or are very close to having the votes.

What remains to be seen is whether the State Senate will actually vote. Paterson has called special sessions before and called for a vote and not gotten one.

New York State is my home state, and this would be fantastic to see. The Assembly already previously passed legislation, and Gov. Paterson has pledged to sign the bill.

If you're from New York, call your legislator. One should assume it's on the agenda for the time being. I just called Sen. Razenhofer (never hurts). Empire State Pride Agenda has a great tool here.

Tagged as: maine, marriage equality