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Friday, Aug 29, 2008
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Assembly votes to provide equal access to marriage for same-sex couples |
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| Assembly votes to provide equal access to marriage for same-sex couples | |
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Assembly acts to end marriage discrimination less than a year after New York's high court failed to do so attention now shifts to the Senate ALBANY, New York-June 19, 2007-Today, the New York State Assembly passed a bill to allow same-sex couples equal access to marriage by a bipartisan vote of 85 to 61. Assemblymember Daniel O'Donnell (D-Manhattan), the bill's prime sponsor, and the Empire State Pride Agenda, New York's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) civil rights advocacy organization, worked with the LGBT community and Assemblymembers especially in the weeks following Governor Spitzer's introduction of the bill (A.8590) to obtain the support necessary that resulted in today's first-ever floor vote. "The Assembly has demonstrated once again that it is the leader on civil rights and providing equality for our community where it didn't exist before in New York," said Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle. "We thank Governor Spitzer for his leadership in introducing this bill into the Legislature, Assemblymember Danny O'Donnell for his hard work building support in the Assembly, and the diverse and bipartisan group of Assembly allies from Buffalo to Westchester, from Harlem to Long Island, and from Ithaca to Saratoga who all spoke strongly to say that New Yorkers want marriage equality for all families." "We also thank our community and our allies who didn't give up after last year's demeaning court decision. Instead of defeating us, the decision energized our community as never before. It made our voices stronger, our determination greater, and laid the groundwork for this great pro-family victory in the Assembly," said Van Capelle. Support for marriage equality has been on an upward trajectory in the Assembly since last year's general election when 38 Assemblymembers indicated they would support passage of the bill. By the time Governor Spitzer introduced the bill on April 27, the number of Assembly supporters had grown to 62. The number of co-sponsors this year was also dramatically higher than the number last year (55 versus 24). Today's vote also included four Republicans, giving the bill an important bipartisan boost as it goes to the Republican-controlled State Senate. "Our community and our allies made it very clear to their state legislators that access to marriage-and the over one thousand state protections and responsibilities that come with it-needs to be provided to same-sex couples and our families. Lawmakers heard from labor unions representing hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and religious leaders from hundreds of congregations all across the state," said Van Capelle. "They heard from our families and friends, our co-workers and neighbors who told them that New York needs to treat all families equally. The message clearly had an impact and today the Assembly did the right thing. Now it's time for the Senate to do the right thing," emphasized Van Capelle. The Senate leadership has taken no action on the Governor's bill (S.5884). Senator Tom Duane is leading the effort to pass the bill in the Senate. "Now that the Assembly has acted, we will be working with Senator Duane and our allies in that chamber everyday to protect same-sex couples and our families by passing the marriage equality bill and making it law in New York," said Van Capelle. Getting the marriage bill passed in the Assembly has been one of the Pride Agenda's top priorities this legislative session. The Pride Agenda will spend the remaining days in this legislative session continuing to advance the other two priority bills: the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) and the Dignity for All Students Act. Founded in 1990, the Empire State Pride Agenda is New York's statewide civil rights organization committed to achieving full equality and justice for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) New Yorkers and our families. The Pride Agenda fights for these objectives by: educating the public, elected officials and policymakers; building coalitions and mobilizing allies; and, organizing and empowering the LGBT community. A Pride Agenda press release |
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