Subscribe to Breaking NewsVanasco: Christine Quinn thinks NY is getting gay marriage
This morning at a press conference to kick off Pride Month in NYC, Speaker of the New York City Council Christine Quinn – an open lesbian – said that her sense after talking with Albany lawmakers is that gay marriage will pass this session, perhaps by New York’s celebration of the 40th anniversary of Stonewall.
“I don’t know it will pass – I work for the City Council, not the State Senate – but I think it will,” Quinn said.
The Speaker said that in talks with state senators, she realized that the conversation has changed. “Very few of the conversations are political,” she said. There was a time when gay activists needed to come with numbers to convince legislators that gays and lesbians lived in their district, that they voted, and that there were repercussions if a senator didn’t vote in favor of gay issues.
Now all of that is assumed, she said, and the conversations are more personal. “They say, ‘I’m having a hard time wrapping my arms around it,’” Quinn said. She added later that some senators, who are on the record as leaning toward no, or who are publicly on the fence, actually want to vote for equal marriage, but are afraid of “what they will say when they go back to their churches on Sunday.”
To help sway the vote, she suggested that gay and lesbian New Yorkers and their families write and call their state senator’s office with their personal story of how gay marriage will affect them.
I only hope Quinn is right. Tom Duane thinks we’ll get it passed by June 22, 2009. Malcolm Smith however says no. I think they should just go for it and see what happens.
Elissa,
Write him anyway. Politicians count numbers. Your opinion does matter, but what matters even more is that you have a ‘voice’ and if you don’t use it, you’ve joined the dreaded but powerful silent majority. Speak up. And get your friends, family and neighbors to do likewise.
I live in New York and I would write to my state senator but he already publically supports marriage equality.
I desperatly hope that the majority of other senators realize how much this means to the majority of the population here and do choose to pass it. Not only will it send a positive message to other states but it will also send a positive message to the LGBT community within it, ranging from the elderly to middle schoolers. Many teenagers right now need that reassurance that what they are feeling is alright. This is just one of the ways to show them that.
“what they will say when they go back to their churches on Sunday.”
Tell them to tell their churches, that this is not a matter of religion. It is a matter of being fair to gay people, and to the churches that do accept and support gay marriage. No church will be required to celebrate any gay marriage. But, just as important, no church should be forbidden to celebrate any marriage that they believe should be celebrated, either. The government is not allowed to takes sides in such disputes between churches. And, the government is required to treat all people equally and fairly.
If you live in Astoria, Sunnyside, Woodside or LIC Queens, call NY State Senator George Onorato at (518) 455-3486 and tell him to vote YES on marriage equality then spread the word at http://www.tinyurl.com/nymarriage2009 Call NY Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith today and every day at (518) 465 2701 to tell him to bring the NY marriage bill to a vote!
When legislators remove an obstacle that impedes part of the population, and it takes nothing from the majority, then the legislature is taking a moment to show some wisdom (and I won’t even make my obligatory remark about Albany). The world won’t end when gays get married; the car will still make a funny sound, the lawn will always seem to need cutting, summer will seem to pass too quickly. But for some, it will be easier to focus on that mundane stuff rather than be reminded of legal inequality.
I hope Quinn’s right. I would like the on-the-fence legislators to know that their god will think more of them for showing courage in respecting others, and that those who would point a finger are people who need to stop minding their neighbors’ business so much if they want to be godly.
Many churches and other religious organizations have lobbied for equal marriage rights. My church, Middle Collegiate Church in Manhattan (middlechurch.org) sent a letter to the state leadership two Easters ago demanding that the state stop restricting whom we could join in holy matrimony. It is simply false that all religious are skeptical or against gay people have marriage rights. One of the more embarrassing elements of President Obama’s claim that he is against gay marriage (which I think is a politically motivated and foolish lie) is that he claims this comes from his church. The last church of which he was a member, the United Church of Christ, is firmly pro-equal marriage rights.
Victor – YES!!! Finally! Yes, our family values are the same as those the otherside claims to own. Family values are NOT restricted to those who sit in church on Sunday and are forced to listen to FEAR and THREATS coming from the pulpit.
One of the pastors who was at their Fresno hoopla said they need to fight being labeled bigots because they are not bigots, they are just fighting for ‘THEIR’ family values. Maybe they have some secret values that the rest of the world doesn’t know? Think, maybe? That’s scary. Such BS!
I feel that Gay Marriage should be voted on as a “YES”. People need equal protection under equal laws. I feel it will give rights which people are entitled to; as well as insurance, security etc;. By all means people have a right to fair treatment under the law regardless, of creed, color and sexuality….
Quite honestly I think we need to reach out on the basis of values. For too long the title of “values” has been held by the religious right. It’s time to say that our values include providing a support structure for people who want to live according to their nature, and provide nurturing families for their children. People who want to be fully contributing members of society, not just economically, but also on a larger social level. The advantages to society in terms of taking some of the stress off the adoption system by facilitating the creation of families in a segment of the populate uniquely positioned to adopt, along with a long list of other societal advantages. It’s time for us to take off the kid gloves and stop asking for this, and start making it impossible for people to avoid how much damage they are doing to themselves when they deny us the rights they enjoy every day.
I for one would really like to see a letter from someone that says marriage equality would affect them in a negative way. It would be the funniest thing to ever be seen anywhere. It would be great to blow them out of the water in how it would affect them.