New York state proved its progressive chops once again!

Just weeks after Governor David Paterson declared that the Empire State will honor out-of-state gay nuptials, the Senate voted 61-0 today to extend the family court law to include the queers. New York City's Anti-Violence Project's press release, which we've included after the jump, provides some more details:

The bill, waiting to be signed into law, represents an important change from the current law, which only allows people related by blood, marriage or a child in common to obtain civil orders of protection. The new law will also bring New York in line with every other state in the U.S. that already protects victims who live with their abusive partners. "AVP has been involved in fighting for this law for a decade," said Jeannette Kossuth, AVP's Director of Client Services. "It will be instrumental in helping us to advocate for those who live with the risk of help coming too late.

Here's the PDF of the aforementioned press release. It's absolutely titillating.