New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who successfully shepherded his same-sex marriage bill into law through a Republican Senate, speaking at a fundraising dinner for the Empire State Pride Agenda, called for every state in America to adopt gay marriage, and called for DOMA, the federal Defense of Marriage law, to be repealed.
READ:Â NY Gov Cuomo: Only Reason To Deny Gay Marriage Is Desire To Discriminate
“We need marriage equality in every state in this nation,” said the Democratic Governor still in his first year in the state’s highest office.
The New York Times reports that Cuomo “received a standing ovation that lasted for more than a minute from supporters of the group, the Empire State Pride Agenda.”
Shifting his sights beyond New York in a way he has not done before, Mr. Cuomo demanded that the federal Defense of Marriage Act be repealed. His voice rising in intensity as he spoke, he also called for federal legislation that would bar discrimination against gay men and lesbians in housing and employment.
And in his most forceful terms to date, Mr. Cuomo called for his counterparts across the country to embrace what he framed as an issue of equal rights and to push for the legalization of same-sex marriage in their own statehouses.
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The event, which raised more than $1.2 million for the group, had a celebratory air, with frequent mentions of the new marriage law. The City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, introduced Mr. Cuomo, saying that his election had “made all the difference in the world.â€
The governor, who was given a leadership award from the group, spoke at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in Midtown before 1,200 people.
Governor Cuomo is the son of Mario Cuomo, also a New York State Governor, who served from 1983-1994. Many have wondered why the elder Cuomo never ran for President. Perhaps his son, now only 53, someday will go further.