New York State Senate Rejects Gay Marriage Legalization By Large Margin

ALBANY, NY -In a major blow to the gay rights movement, the state Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly killed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.



After two hours of emotional and often deeply personal debate, the Senate voted down the measure 38-24, effectively killing its chances before next year's elections.


Democrats couldn't muster enough votes on their own and some Republicans who were open to the idea voted no because they were fearful of a conservative backlash, advocates said.


New York now joins a list of 31 other states to shoot down gay marriage. Five states have approved same-sex unions.


The Senate's 30 Republicans were joined by eight Democrats in voting against the measure. Except for Sen. Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx), none of the naysayers stood up during the debate to explain his or her vote publicly.


The Assembly passed the bill just after midnight, the third time that body has approved the measure since 2007.


"I'm angry, I'm disappointed, I'm sad, I'm let down, I'm betrayed - but I am not going away," vowed the bill's sponsor, Sen. Tom Duane (D-Manhattan), the only openly gay member of the Senate.


Paterson, who at one point stood holding hands with Duane, made a rare trip to the Senate floor to support the bill.


The governor had pushed for a vote in the Senate even though the bill's fate was uncertain - an unusual move in Albany, where legislation usually gets considered only if its passage is guaranteed.


Several senators told stories of struggle, and many argued it was not a fight about religious beliefs and morality but about justice.


Sen. Ruth Hassell Thompson (D-Westchester) revealed for the first time she had a gay brother shunned by his family and forced to live overseas and a minister sister opposed to gay marriage.


"People have the right to choose...and if there is a condemnation in that choice, which is something that my church preaches, then that's between them and God," a choked-up Hassell Thompson said.


Sen. James Alesi, a Rochester Republican many thought would vote for the bill, also looked near tears as he rubbed his head and quietly uttered "no" during the vote.


Alesi prior to the vote said he believed politics and the bad economy would keep many Republicans who may be sympathetic to the cause from voting for gay marriage this time around. "In a different atmosphere, there would easily have been five members on the Republican side voting 'yes,'" he said. "But our primary focus has to be on the fiscal crisis we're in."


Gay marriage opponents were not only elated at the defeat but also with the larger-than-expected margin.


"Today was a good day for marriage in New York," said Jason McGuire, executive director of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms.