Gay-marriage advocates are taking hope for a new gay-marriage bill from a new governor, new coalitions, new strategies and new public attitudes.
But opponents suggest the advocates are misreading the political landscape.
“You see so many new stories spinning momentum for ‘gay marriage’ in 2011,” the Rev. Jason J. McGuire, the president of the New Yorker’s Family Research Foundation, said in an email interview. He heads a Christian group devoted to informing voters on elected officials’ issues. “Advocates,” McGuire said, “have to whip up the air of inevitability in hopes of wooing additional votes.”
Gay-marriage legislation has died twice before in the New York legislature, even with the support of two Democratic governors. In 2007, with the support of then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer, the Assembly passed a gay-marriage bill on a vote of 85-61. But the measure died in the Senate without getting to the floor for a vote. In 2009, under then-Gov. David Paterson, the same gay-marriage bill again passed the Assembly by an even wider margin, 89-52. But in the Senate, all Republican senators and eight Democrats voted down the bill 38-24.
This year, the legislature has until the session ends in June to make another try at passing legislation. Twice before, state Sen. Thomas Duane, D-Manhattan, has introduced the measure. He has not publicly declared he’ll make a third try but gay-marriage advocates expect him to. In the Assembly, another Manhattan Democrat — Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell — is also expected to again sponsor a bill but has not publicly confirmed he will do so.
In the Senate, the bill needs 32 votes to pass. Only 26 have been confirmed in support. Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Long Island, opposes a gay-marriage bill but has publicly announced that he would allow for another vote on the measure.
The loss in 2009 stunned gay-marriage supporters. For their higher hopes now, they give some of the credit to newly elected Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also a Democrat.
“The previous governor was pro gay marriage, but wasn’t as vocal as Cuomo is,” said Brenda Wrigley, a board member of Syracuse-based gay advocacy group, CNY Pride, and a public relations professor at Syracuse University. “I feel more encouraged with him being in office,” she said.
For his part, Cuomo stresses his support of gay-marriage. “To me this is more than just a piece of legislation,” he told gay marriage advocates in April. “This is about the lives of people who I have known for many years, who currently are without the rights to which they are entitled.”
As a sign of his support now that he’s elected, Cuomo has appointed his most senior aide, Steven M. Cohen, to oversee his administration’s efforts on the issue.
Cuomo has also led a new strategy among gay marriage groups and advocates, than the failed efforts in 2009. Then, numerous pro-gay marriage groups worked independently. Now they have united in one larger lobbying effort under an umbrella group.
The group, New Yorkers United for Marriage, includes the Human Rights Campaign, Empire State Pride Agenda, Freedom to Marry, Marriage Equality New York and the Log Cabin Republicans of New York State.
“This coalition will be able to effectively rally the majority of New Yorkers who favor marriage equality, from the grassroots to influential opinion-makers,” said Cathy Marino-Thomas of Marriage Equality New York in a press release.
A $1 million-media blitz featuring well-known pro gay marriage Republicans on billboards and radio and TV commercials has already begun to circulate around the state. One of the most recent Republicans featured is President George W. Bush’s daughter, Barbara.
As another reason for their optimism, supporters point to recent polls showing fast growth in public support for gay marriage.
For example, in 2009, a Siena College poll showed 53 percent of those surveyed agreeing that the New York state Senate should pass legislation to legalize same-sex marriage, with 39 percent opposed. In 2011, a poll from Quinnipiac University showed that 56 percent of respondents favored gay marriage. That a record high of public support.
And in late April, some high-ranking New York business leaders came out in support of a gay-marriage bill. The group characterized the measure as a way to continue attracting “the best talent” to the New York workforce.
“We strongly urge New York State to enact marriage-equality legislation to help maintain our competitive advantage in attracting the best and brightest people the world has to offer and to reaffirm our commitment to both freedom and fairness,” the group said in a public letter.
But opponents of gay marriage are not giving up without a fight. Republican senators could alienate their base of voters if they vote for a gay-marriage bill, says McGuire of the New Yorker’s Family Research Foundation. For example, the same Quinnipiac poll that revealed a record of support for gay marriage also showed 61-percent opposition rating from Republicans.
But even if the bill is enacted into law, McGuire pledged an unending fight against it. “Regardless of what happens with this legislation,” said McGuire, “we will continue to represent the pro-life and pro-family perspective in New York.”
(Luis Rendon is a graduate student in magazine, newspaper and online journalism.)
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