In a historic 33-29 vote, the New York State Senate finally gave its approval to same-sex marriage Friday night, making it the sixth US state to allow it and only the third to approve it by legislation, rather than through the courts. It’s also the first Republican-controlled legislature to approve same-sex marriage.
By the way, for those of you keeping score, this happens in the same week that, six years ago, Spain and Canada became the third and fourth countries to permit gay marriage legally (although gay marriages had already been permitted in seven provinces by the time Parliament got around to legalizing it country-wide here).
How did this happen? Well, apparently shifting attitudes in New York, plus a whole whack of lobbying hours, money and phone calls to state senators got ‘er done. The analysis from Seattle PI may be informative for future legislative battles.
Gays and lesbians won’t be able to get hitched in New York until July 24, to allow time for regulations and statutes to be updated. But it’s a great way to cap off New York Pride Week. Unfortunately, the assholes at the Westboro Baptist Church have already announced that they plan to protest today’s march.
Meanwhile, gays in other states lament that progress seems to be going backward. Minnesota recently pledged to put a constitutional amendment barring gay marriage on the ballot next year; New Jersey’s governor reconfirmed his opposition to gay marriage; and Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachman has proposed a federal constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage throughout the country if she’s elected.
And so the fight continues.
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