Skip to main content

NEW YORK SENATE-PRESIDENT-OR-SOMETHING: "WE WILL VOTE ON MARRIAGE EQUALITY!"

By Ameriqueer
According to the New York Times this morning:

Pedro Espada Jr., the new State Senate president, said in a radio interview on Tuesday morning that he personally wanted to bring same-sex marriage to a vote, news that will give some encouragement to gay activists who read defeat into Monday’s Republican Senate coup.

...“I am for same-sex marriage,” Mr. Espada said. “There will be no guarantees and no quid pro quos, I think there will be a vote of conscience of the senators. And with my partner in government, Senator Skelos, we have not discussed bringing it out to the floor. I’m expressing my own personal desire to see a full debate and decision on this matter.”

The Senate majority leader, Dean G. Skelos, a Long Island Republican who is sharing power with Mr. Espada under the new leadership arrangement, said he and Mr. Espada would discuss the issue of same-sex marriage and other matters later on Tuesday.

The Empire State Pride Agenda, a gay rights organization, called for a Senate vote on the same-sex marriage bill — which the Assembly has already passed — before the end of the legislative session, notwithstanding the change in party control.

“Our issues are not partisan issues,” Alan Van Capelle, the organization’s executive director, said on Tuesday. “They are about equal rights for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who are treated like second-class citizens. Our hope and expectation is that yesterday’s events will not derail efforts by our community to win the equality we so desperately need.”


Marriage Equality Bill sponsor Senator Tom Duane's office was expressing pessimism about the bill this morning when I called in. I think they're still most likely very pessimistic about life in general, but this may be a BIT of good news to brighten things up. Tom Duane has famously said he "has the votes" on the Marriage Equality bill. Regardless of all of the anarchy in the Senate yesterday, the same Senators are still there that were there before. Their votes on this bill should not change, and if it is, indeed, coming to the floor for a vote, then its likely that--as long as Duane was accurate--New York STILL MAY GET MARRIAGE EQUALITY!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Howard Dean Supports Marriage Equality in Vermont

By Ameriqueer
The Burlington Free Press revealed that at a Saturday state Democratic Party reception at the Burlington Hilton, Vermont's former Governor Howard Dean encouraged the leaders in his state to pass legislation legalizing Same-Sex Marriage. Dean was the governor back in 2000 when Vermont became the first state in the Union to enact Civil Unions legislation under pressure from the courts. Now they may just be the first state to enact Marriage Equality WITHOUT pressure from the courts. The Current Governor, Jim Douglas has vowed to veto the legislation when it hits his desk, however, he's also indicated that even he doubts the legislators would not have moved the legislation forward if they did not have a Veto-Proof majority. Let's hope this bolsters the cause of equality even more.
Post a Comment
Read more

HEY #p2!--CALLING ALL PROGRESSIVE ALLIES!

By Ameriqueer
-HEY #p2! (Progressives). We can't do this alone. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans have been fighting for over half a Century to have basic Civil Rights. We have so much to do, and we are such a small group. Without an army of Progressive allies, we can't win. Our rights as American citizens are constantly being compromised, despite life-time service to our nation as good, contributing citizens. We can't wait any longer. We need our Progressive allies to step up and go to bat for us TODAY. We must demand Progressives have got to make LGBT rights a top priority in 2010, or we will keep being put on the back-burner. There will ALWAYS be something more important than LGBT equality affecting America--issues like Health Care Reform and the Economy effect LGBT people too! However, when we are discriminated against under the law every single day, we can't give our all to fixing these problems. We are long overdue to be counted as equal citize...
11 comments
Read more

LC--Guess who’s back? Back again?

By Ameriqueer
Guess who’s back? Back again? : "Bicoastal, bigenerational and bipartisan–and now bi-z… SHOWBIZ NIGHT! In show 58 , we spoke to Hollywood Historian, Laurie Provost–previous guest John Provost’s wife. This author and comedian shared with us some of the coolest stories from Hollywood history. It was really fun! Laurie and Ace discussed her husband John’s time on Lassie as Timmy, and Lance and I asked her about Hollywood’s Haaaaaauuunted Hiiiistory… woooooooo! Do you know anyone who needs to be a guest on Lundon Calling? Do you know anyone who’s been affected by the Military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy? Anyone who wants to come on and talk about LGBT history, or where the movement is heading in the future? Let us know–we’d really love to talk to you about having them on! For now, check out Show 58 –the RETURN OF PHIL!" Make sure you take a listen to Show 58 !
1 comment
Read more