Says Gay City News:

Shortly after 8 p.m., Paterson, four senior Senate Democrats — Jeffrey Klein of the Bronx and Westchester, the deputy majority leader; Eric Adams of Brooklyn; and Manhattanites Eric Schneiderman and Thomas K. Duane, the measure’s lead sponsor — and Alan Van Capelle, the executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA), the state’s LGBT lobby, appeared before the press to announce that the Senate leadership has made a specific commitment to hold a debate and vote on marriage equality before the end of 2009.

The implications cannot be underestimated. Since April, Paterson has consistently called for a vote, which ESPA on several occasions demanded and Duane said repeatedly he has the bipartisan support to pass.

But, to date, the two top Senate Democrats — first Malcolm Smith of Queens, and since a month-long mutiny this past summer by two party members that temporarily denied Democrats the majority, John Sampson of Brooklyn — have pledged to bring a vote only when they can be assured of passage. Given that some of the yes votes Duane and ESPA say they’ve secured have not been made public, it has been difficult to hold leadership accountable according to their standard.

Now that has changed. “For the very first time, we have an historic commitment from the Senate majority to bring the bill to the floor,” Van Capelle told Gay City News the morning after the announcement. “I believe that we had the votes to pass the bill in June. I believe if it had been debated last night we would have had the votes.”

Some advice to partisans who like to attend victory speeches on an election night. If your victorious candidate is telling the crowd about the courteous phone call he had with the vanquished foe, it’s bad form to yell out “dyke.”

Last night I was at the gym, wasting my time, watching primary results for New York City. For the first time since 1975, Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau was not looking for reelection and the field to fill his post included Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. and Leslie Crocker Snyder.

Vance had the support of the retiring DA; Crocker Snyder unsuccessfully tried to unseat the iconic Morgenthau four years ago, and the election was devoid of any drama (although she did wonder at one of the debates if the “old boy network” was in play when big political players ran afoul of the law).

Technically Vance has the new gig even though he only won the primary—there is no Republican opponent. As he was giving his victory speech, he mentioned Crocker Snyder called him, and some yahoo yelled “dyke.” I’m way too old to be clutching the pearls, but the single outburst struck me as weird considering that Gloria Steinem and State Senator Tom Duane are both Vance supporters.

There is no indication Vance is some raving homophobes (while Gay City News endorsed the third candidate in the race, Richard Aborn, the paper spoke well of Vance) and holding a politician for every outburst from a supporter would mean the days of pols would be spent offering apologies. Hopefully the knot head who doesn’t understand the science behind this thing called TV, will be reprimanded by the Vance campaign.

On to better news, a big shout out to Daniel Dromm. The openly gay school teacher went against the Democratic party machine and defeated incumbent Helen Sears. Dromm will join the City Council next year, representing the 25th District of Queens.

UPDATE: Writing minus coffee is not smart. Daniel Dromm won last night’s Democratic primary. He now has to run in the general election come November, but this is NYC baby. I doubt he’ll face a credible Republican candidate. One last thing: a silent smear campaign was employed about Dromm’s past. Like most cowardly work, it failed.

UPDATE 2: One more toast to Jimmy Van Bramer. Another politician who happens to be gay, Van Bramer also beat the party machine in the hotly contested election for the 26th District of Queens. If  all goes  according to plan in November, next year’s New York City Council will have four gay members.

“Visiting friends in hospitals. We’d go in. We’d go in one night, in the morning they’d be dead. I’d bring them food. My family, bring them food. My friends bring someone food. But whoever was in bed would be dead before they could eat it. We’d leave it – maybe the nurses would take it home. No! They wouldn’t eat it! ‘Cause it’s contaminated. Contaminated! Wouldn’t touch it. Wouldn’t go into the room. Wearing masks. Gloves! Gowns! Someone gets sick in the afternoon. They’d be dead the next day. Dead! And that went on for months, and then years. Dead! Dead! You think if you got sick and your friends were dying that I would sit there and do nothing? No. But that’s what happened. That’s what happened. Every cold. Every virus. Every temperature. I thought I’d be dead, and so did so many people that I knew. Dead! You think you scare me? You think you can make be back off? Nothing scares me.”

Watch it on Towleroad.

After a month of escapades that made clown shows look classical, New York’s Senate is returning to work. The Democrats are now back in power and one of the men who brought the state’s business to a halt will be rewarded with a new gig.

When Bronx Sen. Pedro Espada left the Democrats to caucus with Senate Republicans  approximately a month ago, state business came to a screeching halt. Now Espada has returned, Democrats have their original small majority, 32 to 30, and the renegade is the senate’s majority leader. Fellow Democrat Malcolm Smith keeps his title of Senate president.

For some reason a lot of our readers were convinced Espada’s actions were because he didn’t want to see a same sex marriage bill be voted on. Ahhh, if that were only the case. Espada is actually one of the co-sponsors of the gay marriage bill and promised since early June that once Albany got its act together (stop laughing!), he would bring the issue to a vote.

What will happen now as the dust is settling? State Sen. Tom Duane, the state’s only openly gay senator, issued a statement yesterday saying marriage rights in New York will be be put on the back burner.

“As disappointing as it is to admit, it is clear that this week is not the right moment for same-sex marriage legislation,” Duane wrote.  “Senators need some time and distance to regroup after this month’s partisan-charged and explosive atmosphere. Before June 8th, Senators from both sides of the aisle committed to me that they would vote for marriage equality. I still believe this to be the case. However, as I have said many times this session, I will not gamble when civil rights are at stake.  If this means a short delay in order for marriage to become law it is well worth the wait.”

This strikes me as the right note. Duane, whose advocacy for same sex marriage and other LGBT issues is impeccable, is realistic about the state’s political landscape right now. The kookiness of the past month makes it impossible for marriage rights to get a fair or just hearing. To push a vote for it now just to have a vote is more political theater than anything else. Plus this is Duane talking. He’s earned our trust on this topic.

Albany, New York’s capitol’s city, has a proud history of political capers. What happened yesterday, the Republicans taking control of the Senate with the assistance of two Democrats, will go down as the boldest political power play.

The twists and turns of power grabs are of little concern to most of our readers (alas). You all want to know what will happen to gay marriage. A fair question, and the answer is no one knows. First contrary to popular opinion, the defection of the two Democrats, Pedro Espada Jr. of the Bronx and Hiram Monserrate of Queens, had little to do with the Senate work on marriage rights. Espada, as reported by the New York Times, is one of the co-sponsors of the legislation for same sex marriage (many of our commentators who went daft on their keyboards yesterday need to send Espada an apology). It is still unclear why Espada and Monserrate crossed over. They say it was due to their concerns about Malcolm Smith’s Senate leadership. Others, the cynical mean types, think yesterday had more to do with the legal troubles of the pair.

Some New York pols however, are still optimistic about marriage rights getting a vote.

“I believe that it’s still coming regardless of who controls the Senate,” said Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell. “Every year more Americans and more New Yorkers support my right to a marriage license.”

Something to pay attention to is the relative silence about yesterday’s events from marriage rights advocates such as state Senator Tom Duane and the Empire State Pride Agenda. This strikes me as politically savvy. Best to wait to find out what all of the mess means before making anything public.

UPDATE: A few minutes after I posted ESPA’s executive director, Alan Van Capelle, issued a statement asking the Senate to hold a vote on the marriage bill.

“It is time to bring marriage equality and these other LGBT issues to the Senate floor for votes and have members vote their conscience. We urge the Senate to schedule these votes as soon as possible before the end of the legislative session.”

What a difference a week makes (too bad Dinah Washington isn’t around to give us a rendition of her signature song). Seven days ago there was teeth gnashing over the California Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Prop 8 vote. Heck we even had some keyboard revolutionaries leaving messages here about how it’s time to either shoot straight people or burn a few churches (how is that going you little pink Mau Maus?).

Today there is nothing but jubilation. Yesterday New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch put his signature on a gay marriage bill and starting in 2010, same sex couples will be able to walk down the aisle in the Live Free or Die State. The happiness is well deserved because it proves what Dan Savage pointed out: we are winning.

Attention now turns to New York and there is conflicting data. State Sen.Tom Duane, who is leading the fight in Albany, says there are enough votes to pass same sex marriage legislation. This turned Duane’s colleague, Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., hissy and the anti-gay marriage advocate released a statement telling Duane to “shut-up” (Diaz has a history of press releases filled with operatic histrionics).

Wish I had a crystal ball that would show how the New York Senate will vote, but I have no idea what is going to happen. Nate Silver, over at 538.com, crunches the numbers and says it’s going to be a tough haul but nothing is definitive.

It makes my day to think like Nate.

PS: RIP Koko Taylor.

As the New York state Senate mulls same sex marriage rights,  a few of the bill’s foes are getting phone calls from poet Maya Angelou. The writer of such books as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, is joining other glitterati, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue and actress Cynthia Nixon, to press the Legislature to vote for gay marriage.

Angelou, with the assistance of Empire State Pride Agenda (have you given them any cash?), called state Senator Shirley L. Huntley. An opponent of same sex marriage, Huntley thought the call was a joke. However, once she got on the phone her doubts faded away.

Angelou decided to get involved for a simple reason. Love is complicated enough without the vagaries of the state.

“To love someone takes a lot of courage,” she said. “So how much more is one challenged when the love is of the same sex and the laws say, ‘I forbid you from loving this person’?”

Huntley is still unconvinced but she and Angelou ended their conversation on a cordial note (a rarity in a debate when emotions can run a little high).

Now before any of you start complaining  about same sex marriage advocates wasting time and resources courting the famous, state Senator Tom Duane, will hold a press conference tomorrow with gay and lesbian couples discussing how marriage inequality impacts their lives. We’ll cover the press conference on Tuesday.

The easy part of the work is over. New York State’s Assembly passed same-sex marriage legislation last night. The vote was 89-52, an improvement over the 85-61 tally in 2007.

“Today’s vote in the Assembly in favor of same-sex civil marriage once again proved that civil rights can not and will not be denied,”  New York State senator Tom Duane said in a statement. “The eyes of the state, and indeed the nation, turn to the New York State Senate in the fight for marriage equality,”

No one really expected anything less from the Assembly. The trouble will be with the Senate; its majority leader, Malcolm Smith, isn’t sure the votes are there (one of the reasons why there were a few questions about Governor David Paterson making gay marriage a cornerstone in his agenda). Already the pressure is building upon senators from advocates.

“Your grandchildren will want to know how you voted on this important human rights issue. This is a legacy vote, ” said Empire State Pride Agenda executive director Alan Van Capelle.

It might be a “legacy vote”  but there are a number of pols who know what side they are on. And they are not into letting you and your man play Kool and the Gang at your reception.

New York is now the center of the gay marriage debate and it makes me nervous. I know. Coward. Lacking appropriate radical fortitude. Meh. We’ll get to that later. Let’s start the morning with some kindness. Governor David Paterson’s words went to the heart of the matter when he introduced the legislation yesterday.

“Marriage equality is about basic civil rights and personal freedom,” the governor said. “Too many individuals face legal discrimination every single day. Too many loving families do not receive the legal recognition they deserve. Anyone who has ever faced intolerance of any kind knows the solemn importance of protecting the rights of all people. That is why we stand together today to embrace civil rights for every New Yorker. We stand together today for marriage equality in the State of New York.”

Paterson demolished the whole “special rights” line, which some conservatives now throw out, and put the debate where it should be: as part of the country’s long march to freedom. So if gay marriage is your issue, you better get behind Paterson. But let’s not forget the politics behind his announcement. The governor’s poll numbers are wretched. His political base in New York City is starting to turn on him. If he decides to run for reelection, few give him good odds of winning (and don’t even get me started on the state’s budget woes).

So a weak, politically, pol puts his neck on the line. Not a profile of courage really. Not only that, but Paterson stepped on all the quiet hard work that was being done to make marriage rights a reality. But give gay rights groups in New York credit. The only folk giving Paterson grief are pissy bloggers who two weeks ago were calling for the Empire State to step up to the gay marriage plate.

“We very much appreciate Governor Paterson introducing a marriage equality program bill into the legislature and continuing the momentum that has been growing on this important issue over the past several weeks,” said Alan Van Capelle, executive director of Empire State Pride Agenda.

Senator Tom Duane, who was a bit leery of the Paterson push initially, now thinks there are Republicans peers who will support the bill. Something that will be required with conservative Democrats slamming Paterson today.

If Paterson is able to pull this off, mock as much as you need to. If he fails and makes it harder to get gay marriage in New York, I’ll try not to gloat much.

Tom Duane is a delegate from New York and a New York State senator. He is openly gay and HIV positive. He is attending the convention with his partner of 16 years, Louis Webre (on right).

Jennifer Vanasco: What is the most pressing LGBT issue facing New York State?

Tom Duane: Winning the New York state senate so that we have a Democratic majority. If we win one seat from the Republicans, we’ll tie them in power. If we win two seats, there’s a majority.

JV: Why is that important?

TD: Winning New York for the Democrats will mean a dignity for all students act, a GENDA, marriage. All of these have already passed the Assembly. We have a governor who will sign them into law. If we get a democratic majority, we will be competitive with Massachusetts and California.

JV: And are there some Republican seats that are up for grabs?

TD: There are several seats that are competitive. An Obama victory would go far toward securing those seats. But people can also help by donating to Gil Action, which is helping raise money for New York State senate democratic candidates and the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee. I have a leadership role in the state senate, so I’ll make sure we keep all promises made.

JV: What did you think of Ted Kennedy mentioning gays and lesbians in his speech?

TD: I was weeping. I am partly in politics because of Bobby Kennedy.

JV: What’s been the best part of the convention so far?

Just being here. I’ve gone from sneaking into the convention with ACT-UP to being a delegate. The world is changing. But I want it to change faster.