Third Time’s The Charm?
Almost six months to the day New York Governor David Paterson stood up and declared Prop 8 an “unfortunate accident,” and described lack of marriage equality in his state as “not a crisis of issues but a crisis of leadership,†it seems the possibility of a vote on gay marriage in New York State is once again (yet, again,) a possibility.
Emphasis on “possibility.”
Same sex marriage has been used and abused as a bargaining chip, ploy, and rallying cry for much of this year in the Empire State’s Senate.
When the New York Senate imploded this summer, and state senators went on a month-long hiatus from reality – and law-making – it was gay marriage that became one of the largest pawns.
We’re back to that front yet again.
But, better to jump in fully than to let another possible opportunity go by. So, the Human Rights Campaign and the Empire State Pride Agenda are back, rightfully, asking you to contact your Senator and demand they vote in favor of marriage equality. Even yesterday’s Albany Times-Union agreed:
“It is time for Democrats to show that they were deserving of the trust placed in them last year when voters gave them control of the chamber. They must recognize that with power comes not only privilege, but the responsibility to use it. That means, among many other things, acting on one of their party’s clearest planks and following through on an implicit promise to pass a gay marriage bill. Or, at the very least, to bring it to the floor for a vote.”
The Governor will call the Senate back into session later this month, presumably to do more of the work they didn’t do when they were too busy patting each other on the back for taking a month off and doing the important work of getting to know each others’ souls, as opposed to doing the peoples’ work.
The Washington Blade reports New York Senator Tom Duane and New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn predict a vote on marriage equality before the November elections.
Let’s get ready for yet another marriage equality fight in New York.
Third time’s the charm?
Visit the Empire State Pride Agenda’s, “Fall is Here: Tell Your Senator It’s Time to Act on Marriage.”
Visit HRC’s “Take action to help pass marriage equality in New York!“