New York Gov. David Paterson says he has done everything he could do to get equal marriage in New York, he told Towleroad this weekend.

The New York Assembly has passed the marriage bill; Paterson has said he would sign it should it cross his desk.

Should the Senate take up the bill, Paterson said, ” I have a feeling if it got on the floor it would be voted up.” But he also said that if it should be voted down, it would not be a “colossal failure” but would give activists a chance to see who needed to be persuaded. At least then, he said, the legislators would be on record.

W

Says Paterson of the marriage equality bill: “People who’ve lived together for 10, 20, 30 years are waiting, hoping that this legislation will pass while they still have the breath to elicit an ‘I do’ on the altar, and I think it’s time that it happens, and if I have to see legislation fail so I can identify who voted against it to better persuade them, then I’ll take that chance.”

Of the bill’s fate should Senators vote on it, Paterson says: “In this case, I have a feeling if it got on the floor it would be voted up.”

Paterson also says people should see opportunity in defeats like the ballot measure in Maine: “I think there’s this feeling that if legislation fails that it’s this colossal loss for the cause. I find it to be motivational. I think that the public referendum in Maine should inspire us that there’s more work to do, more persuasion to be made, more understanding to be reached, and more sensitivity to be displayed, and those of us who have been a catalyst for marriage equality have to regroup and work harder.”

We also ask Paterson about the ads he posted on Friday which signal he’s already begun his 2010 campaign for governor.

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/11/paterson.html