Gay couple can marry in New York too now
Elena Vnorovscaia / Chişinău / Moldova.ORG / -- Good cause for gay couples to celebrate these days their relations. Now these same-sex couples can marry in New York city. New York lawmakers voted to legalize same-sex marriage Friday. That is indeed a breakthrough victory in the state where the gay rights movement was born.
New York will become the sixth state, after Vermont and New Hampshire, where gay couples can wed and the biggest by far. The measure passed the Republican-controlled state Senate by a margin of 33 votes to 29 votes. The passage of New York's legislation was made possible by two Republican senators who had been undecided.
The decision has become the culmination of weeks of intense debate and negotiations between Governor Cuomo and the GOP-controlled Senate. After the bill passed in the Assembly, it was unclear if the bill had secured enough votes to pass in the Senate.
When a few notable undecideds joined the cause -including Republican Roy McDonald who famously defended his decision, saying "f…ck it, I don't care what you think. I'm trying to do the right thing", the hope appeared.
Gay rights advocates are hoping the vote will galvanize the movement around the country and help it regain momentum after an almost identical bill was defeated here in 2009 and similar measures failed in 2010 in New Jersey and this year in Maryland and Rhode Island.
Sen. Stephen Saland voted against a similar bill in 2009, helping kill the measure and dealing a blow to the national gay rights movement. So his unwillingness became a stimulus for people to fight their democratic rights to marry the beloved ones.
The significance of the legislative milestone includes the next points:
Gay rights advocates are hoping the vote will galvanize the movement around the country and help it regain momentum after an almost identical bill was defeated here in 2009 and similar measures failed in 2010 in New Jersey and this year in Maryland and Rhode Island.
Though New York is a relative latecomer in allowing gay marriage, it is considered an important prize for advocates, given the state's size and New York City's international stature and its role as the birthplace of the gay rights movement, which is considered to have started with the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village in 1969.
That is what gay activists and proponents of gay rights said in response to a new bill:
"We've been waiting. We considered it for a long time, crossing the borders and going to other states. But until the state that we live in, that we pay taxes in, and we're part of that community, has equal rights and marriage equality, we were not going to do it.", said Ellis, 39.
"I am spellbound. I'm so exhausted and so proud that the New York State Senate finally stood on the right side of history," said Queens teacher Eugene Lovendusky, 26, who is gay and said he hopes to marry someday.
The politicians’ reaction to the bill's passage on Friday night.
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand - "New York has always led the way for equal rights - from leading the suffrage movement, to Abraham Lincoln's remarkable speech opposing slavery speech at Cooper Union - and we have done it again. I want to thank Governor Cuomo for his extraordinary leadership and unwavering commitment to marriage equality which brought home this great victory. I also want to thank the committed advocates who worked day in and day out, and all of the New York State lawmakers - Democrats and Republicans - who came together to uphold the fundamental American values of equality and justice for all”
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo - "New York has finally torn down the barrier that has prevented same-sex couples from exercising the freedom to marry and from receiving the fundamental protections that so many couples and families take for granted."
President Barack Obama - The White House released the following statement to The Huffington Post:
“The President has long believed that gay and lesbian couples deserve the same rights and legal protections as straight couples. That's why he has called for repeal of the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" and determined that his Administration would no longer defend the constitutionality of DOMA in the courts. The states should determine for themselves how best to uphold the rights of their own citizens. The process in New York worked just as it should”.
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