Marriage in New York: Beginning Anew

Daniel O'Donnell

A marriage equality bill has officially been introduced into the New York State legislature by Democrat Daniel O'Donnell. In three previous attempts, marriage equality passed in the Assembly but fell short in the Senate, most recently in December 2009. It is currently unclear whether or not there is enough support in the Senate (several Senators are undecided), however there is hope since some of the legislators who previously voted no are currently on the fence. The Senate is the major hurdle. Governor Cuomo campaigned on marriage support and has said he will sign the bill should it get to his desk.

This legislative session ends in June, so there are only a few weeks in which to get this passed.

The so-called National Organization for Marriage some days ago issued a statement saying that they will fight to defeat any Senators who vote in favour of marriage equality by spending millions of dollars.