BREAKING: Espada Claims To Still Want NY Senate Gay Marriage Vote

**6:00 PM UPDATE**

“I’m going to be pushing very very hard for issues like same-sex marriage to not be pre-determined in a smoke-filled room, but to let it air out in full debate on the Senate floor as soon as possible. You know, people haven’t been asking for guaranteed results. They’re been asking for an honest full debate on the floor so we can vote it up or down.” “We have about eight or ten undecided senators on this issue. That’s what we do here we debate and try to convince people with opposing points of view to reach common ground.” — Pedro Espada, Jr., via The NY Daily News

Pedro Espada, Jr. wants a vote on the gay marriage bill he co-sponsored, according to The New York Times:

“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.”

In that same piece, The Times quotes Empire State Pride Agenda’s Executive Director, Alan Van Capelle:

“Our issues are not partisan issues […] 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.”

But one sees little hope for a bill that was challenged from the start. Some outlets are reporting what now seem obviously false, that the “Bipartisan Coalition” was formed explicitly to ensure the gay marriage bill never came to the floor for a vote. Given that Espada, the co-sponsor of the gay marriage bill has been very vocal about the bill’s future, those rumors seem to be just speculation.

Espada is under criminal investigation by the Bronx District Attorney and by NY State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Gothamist reports Espada,

“…is in the hot seat again for what one Bronx political veteran describes as doing “a cha-cha around the campaign finance law—spirit and letter.” After the Daily News’s scathing report on Espada’s conduct, Senate majority leader Malcolm A. Smith called him into a closed-door meeting, giving Espada one week to rectify illegalities with his campaign committee.”

Also via Gothamist:

“As the Bronx DA looks into Espada’s residency issue, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has launched an investigation into whether he illegally used a nonprofit group he controls—Soundview Health Clinic—to promote his political campaigns.”

**UPDATE 2:15 PM** Joe My God reports,

“One day after he was installed as Senate Majority Leader in a coup that Democrats attempted to end by turning off the lights in the Senate room, Sen. Dean Skelos is telling the press that he will bring marriage equality to a vote before the current session ends in less than ten days.”

**6:00 PM UPDATE**
New York Magazine’s Daily Intel blog just posted “Does Gay Marriage Still Have a Shot?” Essentially, they write what you just read here, and end with,

“Clearly, there are a lot of unknowns involved here. But it’s safe to say that, while the bill isn’t dead yet, its prospects are likely worse than before.”

New York City local radio station WNYC reports that Hiram Monserrate, the other turncoat Democrat, said the leadership change won’t affect the prospects of a same-sex marriage bill:

“I don’t think that it impacts it one way or the other. Senator Espada, who’s the president of the Senate, is in support of gay marriage. he has stated that he wants to have a dialogue and a discussion and an up or down vote.”