So New York Gov. David Paterson introduced his own gay marriage bill, which took many by surprise, and pissed off senior Democratic leaders who saw the move as encroaching on their territory. But, what’s … this? Sen. Thomas Duane, the Senate’s only openly gay official, is introducing his own bill?
This is big news. Why?
Because Duane, like Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, believes in only introducing legislation if he thinks it’ll pass.
Which means the marriage equality bill Duane just introduced — which says a marriage “shall be valid regardless of whether the parties to the marriage are of the same or different sex” — will likely pass, otherwise Duane wouldn’t have brought it up.
How about we take this to the next level?
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And that means Republican senators have to be on board, given certain Democrats refusing to sign on board. Duane’s bill has 18 co-sponsors; it needs 32 votes in the Senate. Meanwhile, the State Assembly’s version of the bill from Manhattan’s Rep. Daniel O’Donnell has 53 sponsors.
All of which leaves Democrats like Sen. Ruben Diaz — who’s lobbying religious and Hispanic groups to keep the legislature from approving gay marriage — squarely in the bigot aisle.
Wayne
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Marriage Equality to prevail in New York!
Isn't Duane's bill the same as Guv's bill?
Um, correct me if I’ve got this wrong, but isn’t Sen. Duane the sponsor of Gov. Paterson’s bill. Hence, they’re the same bill, not competing bills, as this post implies.
Jackson
You’re exactly right No. 2. Also, this post misses even more convincing evidence that NYS will legalize gay marriage from 10 days ago: http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/13529/duane-gay-marriage-has-senate-gop-supporters
hardmannyc
This post is ridiculous. Even aside from #2’s very correct assertion that this is PATTERSON’S bill (the governor can’t introduce a bill on the floor hello!), lots of legislators — even ones as savvy as Duane — introduce bills without being assured of passage. With your pretzel logic, remind me never to take you to Vegas.
The Gay Numbers
There is a strong chance you are right that the bill will pass. The GOP has given its members the choice to vote their concious rather than requiring a lockstep vote. This was covered on Tolweroad. Thanks for the additional information. It does seems there are some things going on behind the scene that all the naysayers looking at it do not seem to know about.
Bruno
All 18 co-sponsors in the Senate are Democrats, unfortunately. I’d really like to know who the Republicans may be who are for civil rights. The Assembly I’m not worried about.
Captain Freedom
Ruben Diaz looks and sounds like a mob boss from the movies. He is another one of those BIG GOVERNMENT Democrats who are anti-equality. He is just another shill for the big unions who talk a good game about progressive values but whose majority of members never support gay rights.
Ruben Diaz is a mob boss who gives the greatest city in the world (after San Francisco) a bad reputation.
The Gay Numbers
Bruno:
They are keeping tight wraps on who the GOP members are to prevent pressure groups from pushing them to vote against the bill. I believe as I said the big signal came with the GOP leadership saying they would allow their members to vote theri concious rather than vote lockstep. This is significant given the last time they voted 100 percent against. This suggest to me that we will see some GOP members favor the bill. In this case, I am ignoring my curiousity if the goals are to work behind the scenes to ensure the bill is enacted.
Bruno
@The Gay Numbers:
I found this roundup, and it doesn’t look good: http://www.thealbanyproject.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=6307
But maybe there’s something to the fact that there are 6 GOP who haven’t commented either way.
The Gay Numbers
Bruno- maybe they are playing games, but if their votes were certain, I don’t see how it would be of value to them.
Bruno
@The Gay Numbers:
They want to do it as quietly as possible so as not to piss of other GOP? Or their constituents? It’s possible, but improbable.
However, they did say that there was “some GOP support” for the bill, and I assume that means more than 1 Republican.
The Gay Numbers
Bruno
Read Jackson’s l ink above:
http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/13529/duane-gay-marriage-has-senate-gop-supporters
THis is where the GOP Senators were a week ago. What has changed is that the GOP Conference has said that it will allow members to vote their concious rather than whip them to vote against the bill. That’s very significant. It’s in accord with what Duane has said regarding their being the potential votes there. I am not sure what more I can tell you than that. And as for the secrecy, I have to be honest, I am not a big believer that every deal needs to be done in the light of day so long as the right decision is made. This is not CIA intelligence for going to war or the bank melt down where there is more information needed for the public to make the right decision. It is an issue about which we all know whats at stake and the argument. The only real issue is the attempt to influence those Senators who are on the fence. I can understand why that maybe attempted behind closed doors.
travlindr
Excuse me. Am I missing something? It looks to me like the Duane bill means NY has to recognize marriages contracted in other jurisdictions — what the Governor’s executive order states. However, it does not give same-sex couples the right to get married in NY.
Robert, NYC
Gov. Paterson has backed off on bringing the bill for a vote this year. He concedes with Malcolm Smith, there aren’t quite enough votes in the senate to see it safely pass. So I guess its wait and see after the November 2010 mid-terms and my hunch is, there will be yet another delay tactic in getting it through.
New Hampshire’s recent “no” on marriage equality was very disheartening and I daresay Maine will go the same way. I think New Jersey will get there before New York does since the court already stated that gay couples should be entitled to all the rights of marriage which they clearly do not get with civil unions already in place. You would have thought New York of all states would have been the trail blazer in all this, but definitely not, its become the trailer.
Captain Freedom, in what other cities outside of the U.S. have you lived to claim that New York is arguably the greatest city in the world? On what do you base that exactly? It may be the greatest city in the U.S. but internationally, there are others that do a better job and are light years ahead of us on social issues.
Captain Freedom
@Robert, NYC:
With all due respect, your RAMPANT defeatism is pathetic and disappointing. That attitude is exactly what allowed Prop 8 to pass. In NY state our brothers and sisters need our help more than ever and here you are talking them down and asking everyone to lose hope.
Four years ago we had MA and not one national figure on our side. Now we have 4 states w more on the way and talks by Schumer, Feingold, Feinstein and Kennedy secretly preparing a bill to torpedo parts of DOMA, a bill passed by 85/100 senators only 2 administrations ago.
NY will pass this bill. The House is already a greenlight. Four senators are the ONLY obstacle to equality. For you to give up… stay out of the way. Don’t be a part of the Prop 8 repeal w that Perez Hilton attitude. Or, get it together and get on board.
Btw, I have been all over the world, Europe, Central America, Middle East… and I still believe NYC is the greatest city of all. If NYC can do it than so can the rest of the world. NYC is afterall the UN HQ, the capitol of the financial world, and the Rome of our time. Let’s not let Rome burn this time!
Robert, NYC
@Captain Freedom:
Sorry, but I’m hardly a defeatist, in fact a realist. Don’t compare me with Perez Hilton, please.
I have lived in several European capitals and I wouldn’t say that one is better than the rest and I wouldn’t have the arrogance to say that because the UN is based in New York that that constitutes it to be the greatest city in the world. Its arguable that New York is the financial capital with London handling virtually every foreign currency transaction that New York has traditionally never done. If you go back to the Iran hostage crisis, the U.S. froze all of Iran’s assets. The U.S. government had to ask London to handle that, why not New York if its supposed to be the financial capital? Go to any New York bank and try to buy foreign currency. Most banks will direct you to one branch usually not within walking distance that can provide such a transaction and in most cases you have to wait a few days before you receive the exchange. In London, you can use any bank to transact foreign currency over the counter, but that doesn’t make it the greatest city in the world although its one of them.
Nobody wants to see New York fail to get marriage equality passed, least of all myself, why would you assume just because you don’t agree with me that I would like to see the opposite effect? I’ve been an activist long before the AIDS pandemic and a generous financial support to equality organizations and I will continue to do so.
The reason Prop. 8 succeeded was not brought about by defeatism, it was on account that the right wing and religious groups did a far better job in recruiting supporters than we did and they had unlimited financial resources to make it happen as evidenced by the $22 million paid out by the Mormon cult alone. We were complacent and we didn’t do enough outreach in areas where our message and votes counted the most.
My sincerest hope is that Malcolm Smith gets the desired 32 or more votes to pass legislation. Concentration should now be on the four opponents in the democratic party. Defeating them in the next election will be one way in doing it.
Captain Freedom
@Robert, NYC:
Prop 8 could have failed. I know because I was on the ground in CA when it passed. I live in San Francisco. The No on 8 campaign was BEYOND PATHETIC and even worse many of those who were involved in it still don’t admit the mistakes they made.
On Castro street there were a number of gays who didn’t care about the issue enough and were saying “oh it will get overturned eventually if it passes.” Prop 8 opponents didn’t even bother touching the Inland Empire where it passed w near-Southern numbers.
Besides that, I completely agree with you that we must defeat the Bigotcrats in NY. Don Ruben Diaz and his cadre of Consiglieres must be taken down in crushing defeat. These people are the mafia of the 21st Century.
Bruno
@The Gay Numbers:
I did hear about that, however, I don’t know if that means any GOP members will change their minds. There are the 6 that the site I posted list as question marks, and I’m sure they’ll be targeted. But the 6 Democrats that the site listed as “No” have all made themselves quite clear on the matter, and will likely not be swayed without some real pressure put on them. And I don’t think that pressure can materialize to the degree it needs to without a transparent process, that Paterson has now backed off of. But if Malcolm thinks he can get this done privately, fine, whatever works.
The Gay Numbers
Bruno
That’s my only point- that I don’t care how it passes so long as it passes.
Robert, NYC
@Captain Freedom:
I’m glad we can agree on defeating the closeted rethuglicans in the democratic party. Pedro Espada one of the infamous four has been involved in some shady financial dealings and gerrymandering. That is something that needs to be looked at.
The new Archbishop of New York has vowed to get involved and what we should now be doing is to go after the religious rabble, start a movement to hit them in their pockets through the removal of tax-exempt status for starters and every other religious cult that meddles in, advocates for and influences the outcome of hate legislation. They are abusing their tax status and and are already in violation of it, they should be held accountable. Let them get a dose of reversed discrimination for a change. One of the organizations under its umbrella, the Knights of Columbus donated more than $1 million to pass Prop. H8. We can’t let that happen in New York.
Mark
Call a spade a spade, damn it.
‘Religious’ and ‘Hispanic’ groups are virtually the same. After all, the VAST majority of Hispanics are Catholic, adhere strongly to their Catholic faith, and will vote with their Catholic ‘values’.
Captain Freedom
@Robert, NYC: You’re never going to believe this. Supposedly Underboss Pedro has flipped on marriage! Albany Project has him listed as one of the Senators who is now supporting the marriage bill! He said that he believes its an issue of equality.
If that is the case, why did he unite with Don Ruben? Was it because he just wanted the power and didn’t give a shit about marriage?
Robert, NYC
@Captain Freedom:
Hi, where did you learn of this? If its true, I suspect Espada has switched sides because there is some rumor of financial corruption going on with him, hundreds of thousands of dollars in kick backs from some nefarious deal he made with some one or some people for political influence. He obviously doesn’t want that to re-surface while he opposes equality. Power is really what most of them are about for sure, they’d sacrifice us for just about anything to get elected.
My biggest fear now is that if Gov. Paterson doesn’t get elected next year and he probably won’t given his dwindling support in the polls, Rudy Giuliani could well be the next contender who has already come down against same-sex marriage. If he is elected and marriage equality passes, we’ll end up with yet another governor vetoing it. So now we have to concentrate on both the remaining three democrats and defeating Giuliani’s chancing of ever getting elected, unless of course something miraculous happens in our state and Paterson surges ahead in the polls. Holding my breath that he does.
I don’t really subscribe to dirty politics but if Giuliani proves to be a strong contender, we in the LGBT community and our allies have to rake up the dirt on Giuliani’s divorce, and philandering record as well as his second marriage while denying us the right to marry, seems beyond hypocrisy to me. While he was screwing around prior to marrying his second wife, he accepted the hospitality of a gay couple to stay with them while he sorted out his living arrangements. He’s a despicable man to say the least. We have to make sure he doesn’t become our next governor. We have to take him to task about his hypocrisy and double standard when it comes to our right to marry. Currently, he professes to be a catholic and what amazes me is that there are more than enough grounds for his excommunication. Why hasn’t that happened I wonder?