Activists Push for Same-Sex Marriage Bill in N.Y.
Star-Gazette Albany Bureau
April 29, 2008

ALBANY -- More than 2,000 gay-rights activists gathered at the Capitol today to urge the legislature to legalize same-sex marriage.

The group of young and old, black and white, male and female straight and gay people from across the state gathered on the Capitol lawn, some dancing and others waving signs. Everyone was cheering for same-sex marriage.

Alan Van Capelle, executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, told the crowd that the majority of New Yorkers support gay marriage. Now the legislature has catch up.

"New Yorkers don't care about these issues,'' he said. "They have a good live and let live attitude."

Last year the Assembly passed a bill to allow same-sex marriage, but it was never considered by the Senate.

If senators do not vote for the legislation "we're going to find new legislators to sit in their seats," Van Capelle said, threatening to work to defeat incumbents this fall.

Sen. Tom Duane, D-Manhattan, sponsor of same-sex marriage bill that is pending in the Senate, said he is confident the bill will be voted on and passed eventually.

"I believe that marriage is a when, not an if, but I'm impatient and so is the LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender] community," said Duane, who is the Senate's only openly gay member.

"Even though the members of the Republican conference are doing everything they can to appeal in an insider way to conservatives, in fact their constituents believe they are socially moderate, so voting no would destroy that veneer."

The bill is important to pass because "it means that all families will be treated equally in New York State and full civil rights means marriage equality and marriage equality means full civil rights," he said.

There are more than 50,000 same-sex couples - about one percent of all couples -- living in the state with about 20 percent of those couples raising children, according to a report by the Williams Institute, a research organization at the University of Southern California. In 2005, there were an estimated 592,337 gay, lesbian and bi-sexual people living in the state, according to the report.

New Yorkers from across the state filed into legislator's offices today to voice their support for gay marriage.

"I wake up in the morning and look at my partner and know that I can't get married in New York State," said Paul Brew, a 52-year-old resident of Rochester. "I have friends who've been fired from their jobs for being transgendered."

Brew said he is pleased with the same-sex marriage support in the Assembly, but is disappointed by the Senates response.

"For Susan John, I'm here to say thank you, what can I do for you after all you've done for me," he said, referring to the Democratic Assembly member from Rochester. He said he is disappointed with the lack of support on the issue from Sen. James Alesi, R-Perinton, Monroe County.

Alesi said he has not seen the same-sex marriage bill, but that he has supported gay rights since taking office.

"I have a very strong record supporting rights, not only for gays and lesbians, but for everyone," he said. "I have family members that are gay and I have close friends that are gay."

The Rev. Richard Jackson-Carthen of the Lake Avenue Baptist Church in Rochester, said he and his husband traveled to Vermont to be married because New York wouldn't recognize the union.

"It's time for a change," he said. "We're all taxpayers - why should we not have the same equal rights?"

Claire McNeill, 67, traveled from Yorktown Heights, Westchester County, to support her daughter and raise awareness for same-sex marriage.

"I'm the proud parent of a lesbian daughter. She and her wife are married," she said. "They were legally married in Massachusetts where they live."

"I think that civil marriage should be legal in New York State - different churches can decide on whether or not they want to participate," he said.

"It's best for children to be in families that are recognized," she said.

As of 2005, an estimated 7 percent, or 7,042, of the adopted children in the state live with same-sex couples, according to the Williams Institute report.