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The Daily OrangeNY Senate still split on gay marriage
By Valerie Crowder
Posted: 9/3/09, 2:16 AM EST Section: News
The possibility of legalizing same-sex marriage in New York is a legitimate prospect now that Democrats occupy the majority of the state Senate. But the path to reform has been a bumpy one.
A pivotal moment occurred when the New York State Assembly passed marriage equality legislation in May. However, this is the second time since 2007 that the assembly has approved such a proposal - the then-Republican-dominated Senate readily defeated the bill that year. State leaders like Gov. David Paterson are now calling upon policymakers for reform.
"There is clearly a problem in that those individuals who are gay or lesbian, who would live in a civil union, are still not entitled to somewhere between 1,250 and 1,300 civil protections available to married couples," Paterson said in a May interview with CNN. "We would like to try to address that at some point in the near future."
Former governor Eliot Spitzer also encouraged reform by presenting a bill in 2007 that would have granted same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples. The proposal passed through the assembly 85-61 then, but expired in the Senate, where at least 32 votes are needed. The current assembly tried to push Spitzer's bill through again in April, but stalled due to the Senate gridlock this summer.
Although the governor supports the legislation, some Senate democrats remain torn on the issue. Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., a democrat Pentecostal minister, sided with Republicans when the governor called upon democrats for support in June, according to an April article in The New York Times. A lack of republican support will require all 32 democrats to jump on board.
In 1996, the Clinton administration signed the "Defense of Marriage Act," which reserves the power to delegate marriage laws to the states and does not require any state to recognize the legal marital arrangements made in another state. Essentially, reform can only happen on a state-by-state basis. As for the United States, in the same act, marriage is defined as "only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife."
A pivotal moment occurred when the New York State Assembly passed marriage equality legislation in May. However, this is the second time since 2007 that the assembly has approved such a proposal - the then-Republican-dominated Senate readily defeated the bill that year. State leaders like Gov. David Paterson are now calling upon policymakers for reform.
"There is clearly a problem in that those individuals who are gay or lesbian, who would live in a civil union, are still not entitled to somewhere between 1,250 and 1,300 civil protections available to married couples," Paterson said in a May interview with CNN. "We would like to try to address that at some point in the near future."
Former governor Eliot Spitzer also encouraged reform by presenting a bill in 2007 that would have granted same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples. The proposal passed through the assembly 85-61 then, but expired in the Senate, where at least 32 votes are needed. The current assembly tried to push Spitzer's bill through again in April, but stalled due to the Senate gridlock this summer.
Although the governor supports the legislation, some Senate democrats remain torn on the issue. Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., a democrat Pentecostal minister, sided with Republicans when the governor called upon democrats for support in June, according to an April article in The New York Times. A lack of republican support will require all 32 democrats to jump on board.
In 1996, the Clinton administration signed the "Defense of Marriage Act," which reserves the power to delegate marriage laws to the states and does not require any state to recognize the legal marital arrangements made in another state. Essentially, reform can only happen on a state-by-state basis. As for the United States, in the same act, marriage is defined as "only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife."
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Robert
posted 9/06/09 @ 8:58 AM EST
New Hampshire also has marriage equality. New York will be the 7th state.
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