Is Tide Turning Against Gay Marriage Vote in NY This Year?

The next few weeks could prove to be a crucial time for the national gay-rights movement, which invested heavily in New York to try to pass same-sex marriage but was stymied in the chaos over the summer. Unfortunately for the activists, the battle has become a game of chicken or hot potato, depending on whom you talk to. On one level, not a lot has changed from the situation in the summer. Again, Governor Paterson, grasping for political traction, has brought the issue to a head, promising to order lawmakers back to Albany next month and to force them to take up the marriage bill. Malcolm Smith is no longer running the Senate. But John Sampson, a Brooklyn lawyer who supplanted Smith as Democratic leader, is stirring similar doubts about his willingness to hammer holdouts into yes votes. (Like Smith, Sampson wasn't a supporter of gay marriage before assuming power.) And still, not a single Republican has openly endorsed gay marriage. The trouble for supporters is that the ground that has shifted has raised the odds against them. Sampson is already struggling to unite Democrats behind an emergency plan to rescue New York from a swelling midyear deficit. The possible expulsion or resignation of Queens senator Hiram Monserrate, who was convicted of a misdemeanor assault against his girlfriend, could remove another yes vote. And the conservative revolt against Republican Dede Scozzafava, who voted for gay marriage in the Assembly, has shaken the nerves of moderate Senate Republicans. Full Story from New York Magazine: http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/11/as_paterson_calls_senate_back.html

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in New York.

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