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Latest setback for marriage equality in the US following its rejection by voters in Maine and California
State of New York
Gay marriage rejected by New York senate
After months of delay and protracted political drama, the New York senate has voted to reject a bill which would allow gay marriage in the state. It is the latest setback for the legislation in the US following the repeal by Maine voters last month of a state law allowing gay couples to marry and a similar rejection by voters in California last year.
The marriage equality bill was passed by New York's state assembly for the third time late last night, but in a special legislative session the senate voted 38 - 24 against it, with no support from Republican senators. Governor David Paterson, an advocate of gay marriage equality, had promised to sign it if passed in the senate.
Paterson said he regretted that the senators did not have the "intestinal fortitude" to pass the bill. "I believe in my heart that if people had voted with their consciences today, we would be celebrating marriage equality tonight," he said.
New York city council speaker Christine Quinn, who lobbied intensely for the bill, told Associated Press: "This is a loss for every family in New York. This is a loss for every lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender New Yorker."
However, Empire State Pride Agenda, the state's leading LGBT lobby group, saw the insight into where the legislators stood on the gay marriage equality issue as an opportunity to learn and regroup.
"While we are disappointed by today's vote, we are pleased that the issue of marriage equality was debated in the New York state senate," said executive director Alan Van Capelle. "We had long called for a public debate on this matter so we could determine who was truly on our side.
"It is a step forward for our democratic process in New York that a debate and vote have now occurred. Now we know where we stand, and where we need to concentrate efforts in the future."
