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发帖数: 4174 | 1 ALBANY, N.Y.—Republicans in the New York Senate agreed Friday to allow a
full vote on legalizing gay marriage, setting the stage for a possible
breakthrough victory for the gay-rights movement in the state where it got
its start.
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New York could become the sixth state where gay couples can wed, and the
biggest by far. A vote could come as soon as tonight.
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos said the bill will come to the floor and
be brought up for an "up or down vote." It will be a "vote of conscience for
every member of this Senate," Skelos said.
The heavily Democratic Assembly has already approved one version of the
measure and is expected to easily pass the new version that contains more
protections for religious groups that oppose gay marriage and feared
discrimination lawsuits.
Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who campaigned on the issue last year, has
promised to sign it. Gay weddings could begin 30 days after that.
Though New York is a relative latecomer in allowing gay marriage, it is
considered an important prize for advocates, given the state's size and New
York City's international stature and its role as the birthplace of the gay-
rights movement, which is said to have started with the Stonewall riots in
Greenwich Village in 1969.
The effects of the law could be felt well beyond New York: Unlike
Massachusetts, which pioneered gay marriage in 2004, New York has no
residency requirement for obtaining a marriage license, meaning the state
could become a magnet for gay couples across the country who want to have a
wedding in Central Park, the Hamptons, the romantic Hudson Valley or that
honeymoon hot spot of yore, Niagara Falls.
Gay-rights advocates are hoping the vote will galvanize the movement around
the country and help it regain momentum after an almost identical bill was
defeated here in 2009 and similar measures failed in 2010 in New Jersey and
this year in Maryland and Rhode Island.
The sticking point over the past few days: Republican demands for stronger
legal protections for religious groups that fear they will be hit with
discrimination lawsuits if they refuse to allow their facilities to be used
for gay weddings.
Now, all 32 Republicans have approved stronger religious protections.
New York, the nation's third most populous state, would join Connecticut,
Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, D.C., in
allowing same-sex couples to wed.
For five months in 2008, gay marriage was legal in California, the biggest
state in population, and 18,000 same-sex couples rushed to tie the knot
there before voters overturned the state Supreme Court ruling that allowed
the practice. The constitutionality of California's ban is now before a
federal appeals court.
While court challenges in New York are all but certain, the state -- unlike
California -- makes it difficult for the voters to repeal laws at the ballot
box. Changing the law would require a constitutional convention, a long,
drawn-out process.
Movement on the bill comes after more than a week of stop-and-start
negotiations, rumors, closed-door meetings and frustration on the part of
advocates.
Online discussions took on a nasty turn with insults and vulgarities
peppering the screens of opponents and supporters alike and security was
beefed up in the capitol to give senators easier passage to and from their
conference room. | m******1
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