New York’s State Senate defeats Gay Marriage Bill

And it wasn’t even really close. The vote on the Gay Marriage Bill for New York was 38-24. Democrats hold a 1 seat majority in the New York State senate, so plenty of Democrats also voted against the passage of the bill. According to the New York Times, the vote means that the bill, pushed by New York Governor David Paterson, is effectively dead for the year and dashes the optimism of gay rights advocates, who have had setbacks recently in several key states.

The bill was defeated by a decisive margin of 38 to 24. The Democrats, who have a bare, one-seat majority, did not have enough votes to pass the bill without some Republican support, but not a single Republican senator voted for the measure. Still, several key Democrats who were considered swing votes also opposed the bill.
In the end, it was not an issue that broke down along racial lines, or even religious and agnostic divisions. In fact, nine of the Senate’s 11 black members voted in support of same-sex marriage.

“When I walk through these doors, my Bible stays out,” said Senator Eric Adams, a Brooklyn Democrat who compared the law preventing same-sex marriage with laws that kept blacks and whites from marrying. “I believe there are certain moments here where we can benchmark our lives by the votes we took.”

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December 2, 2009 · Filed Under Gays


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