Same-sex marriage becoming legal in N.Y.
Updated 4:30 a.m. ET
ALBANY, N.Y. - At New York City's Stonewall Inn, the Greenwich Village pub that spawned the gay rights movement on a June night in 1969, Scott Redstone watched New York pass a historic same-sex marriage law with his partner of 29 years, and popped the question.
"I said, `Will you marry me?' And he said, `Of course!"' Redstone said he and Steven Knittweis walked home to pop open a bottle of champagne.
They and other gay couples from around the world can start planning to wed as early as late July in New York, after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed his bill into law just before midnight Friday night. The stroke of Cuomo's pen fulfilled a campaign promise he made last year and injected fresh momentum into the national gay rights movement that largely stalled two years ago in the same state.
New York becomes the sixth state where gay couples can wed, doubling the number of Americans living in a state with legal gay marriage. Pending any court challenges, legal gay marriages can begin in New York within 30 days.
"That's certainly going to have a ripple effect across the nation," said Ross Levi, executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda. "It's truly a historic night for love, our families, and democracy won."
"We made a powerful statement," Cuomo said. "This state is at its finest when it is a beacon of social justice."
The leading opponent, Democratic Sen. Ruben Diaz, was given only a few minutes to state his case during the Senate debate.
"God, not Albany settled the issue of marriage a long time ago," said Diaz, a Bronx minister. "I'm sorry you are trying to take away my right to speak," he said. "Why are you ashamed of what I have to say?"
The Catholic Bishops of New York said the law alters "radically and forever humanity's historic understanding of marriage."
"We always treat our homosexual brothers and sisters with respect, dignity and love," the bishops stated Friday, "We worry that both marriage and the family will be undermined by this tragic presumption of government in passing this legislation that attempts to redefine these cornerstones of civilization."
Legal challenges of the law and political challenges aimed at the four Republicans who supported gay marriage in the 33-29 vote are expected.
"State legislators should not decide society-shaping issues," said the Rev. Jason McGuire of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms. He said his organization would work in next year's elections to defeat lawmakers who voted for the measure.
The big win for gay rights advocates is expected to galvanize the movement around the country and help it regain momentum after an almost identical bill was defeated here in 2009 and similar measures failed in 2010 in New Jersey and this year in Maryland and Rhode Island.
Jerry Nathan of Albany, who married his partner in Massachusetts, called the vote "an incredible culmination of so much that's been going on for so many years it doesn't seem real yet."
Ultimately, gay couples will be able to marry because of two previously undecided Republicans from upstate regions far more conservative than the New York City base of the gay rights movement.
Sen. Stephen Saland, 67, voted against a similar bill in 2009, helping kill the measure and dealing a blow to the national gay rights movement. On Friday night, gay marriage supporters wept in the Senate gallery as Saland explained how his strong, traditionally family upbringing led him to embrace legalizing gay marriage.
"While I understand that my vote will disappoint many, I also know my vote is a vote of conscience," Saland, of Poughkeepsie, said in a statement to The Associated Press before the vote. "I am doing the right thing in voting to support marriage equality."
Also voting for the bill was freshman Sen. Mark Grisanti, a Buffalo Republican who also had been undecided. Grisanti said he could not deny anyone what he called basic rights.
"I apologize to those I offend," said Grisanti, a Roman Catholic. "But I believe you can be wiser today than yesterday. I believe this state needs to provide equal rights and protections for all its residents," he said.
A huge street party erupted outside the Stonewall Inn Friday night, with celebrants waving rainbow flags and dancing after the historic vote.
Watching the festivities from across the street was Sarah Ellis, who has been in a six-year relationship with her partner, Kristen Henderson. Ellis said the measure would enable them to get married in the fall. They have twin toddlers and live in Sea Cliff on Long Island.
"We've been waiting. We considered it for a long time, crossing the borders and going to other states," said Ellis, 39. "But until the state that we live in, that we pay taxes in, and we're part of that community, has equal rights and marriage equality, we were not going to do it."
The bill makes New York only the third state, after Vermont and New Hampshire, to legalize marriage through a legislative act and without being forced to do so by a court.
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violating their 1st amendment right to freely exercise their religion without government interference, harassment and discrimination! All predicated on the homosexual propaganda disguised as science lie, that some men and women are born with a gay gene that determines sexual orientation. It's evident to some that mankind is truly entering a new dark age/period in human history, which will without doubt hasten the return of Jesus the Christ to judge both the living and the dead. And God will not judge man based on corrupt, perverted laws, constitutions, fraudulent research disguised as science, referendums, public opinion polls or what society says is normal or common at the time, but rather God will judge man according to his unchanging, non evolving holy commands one of which says homosexuality is a grave sin and an abomination and the wages of sin are eternal death. Repent if you are able, the end is very, very, very near!
They were true as a blue blue sky
Stevie was a long legged d**k licker
with a wicked wandering eye
he was Adam's man, nearly all the time.
One day Stevie packed up and left Adam
but he promised, He'd be back
he said he had some licking to do
a little farther down the track.
He was Adams Lover, but he was far away.
How about some help with the third verse!
Scriptural Christendom amd within all world religons, which condemn the sexual prevention of homosexuality.
But earthly governments come and go, but Christ's Kingdom will reign forever!
"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything." --Alexander Hamilton
Please don't keep on with the influence on opinions malarky, When I was young I was faithfully marched to church every sunday plus high days and holy days. Never in all the time listened to the Mass , my father's bible readings could I square the glaring departures from reality found therein.
Imagining I must have missed some huge and important equation that would explain the lack of reason, I asked my parents to explain again. Their almost Swiftian responses impressed me with the clearest understanding that it was all BS.
I was raised being taught that being gay was disordered. It was not until I went to college that I realised that a proportion of my acquaintances ,as normal as the next person, were gay, same attitude ,same clothes, same career dreams, just gay.
There was a time when owning slaves was the accepted norm and people fought to protect that.
There was a time when women having no vote was the accepted norm and people fought to protect that.
There was a time when demanding black folk sat at the back of the bus or gave you their seat was the norm and people fought to protect that.
There was a time when drowning women as a means of trial was the accepted norm and people fought to protect that
And for those who stand for equal rights for everyone...that is a lot, and JasOn360, I think that Hamilton's words are reflected by this vote.
Just how could gay marriage undermine heterosexual marriage? Life is not stagnant and changes often are made to make our lives more fulfilling and in this case equal. Religious people are sometimes a little blind to reality and they often don't believe that things change and our laws and way of life must adapt to the changes or be left behind. I for one think it is wonderful that gays and lesbians can legally marry and it can only help make our society richer. Now if the rest of the U.S. can just wake up and make our society equal all the way around, then we will be better off.
That's what members of our church changed during the Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade in 2009. We also posted a banner in front of our church stating "This church supports marriage equality." Twice vandals slashed the word equality from our banner - as if an act of vandalism would destroy our Christian beliefs.
So the God frauds in New York do not have the last word on gay marriage. And lest we forget, the Bishops of New York, should read the Bible before they claim that gay marriage alters "radically and forever humanity's historic, understanding of marriage." If they did, they would find all sorts of marriage arrangements that were perfectly legal. And bear in mind I used "arrangements" deliberately - since most marriages were real estate and business deals rather than unions based on love. In fact, during the Middle Ages, marriages occurred only if people had property - to enable the right descendants to get the estate. And the Church sanctioned these "arrangements" for hundreds of years.
At the time I am writing this blog, I am in Los Angeles. I have not witnessed any plagues of locusts, flies or frogs. An earthquake has not occurred. I have not witnessed plagues of rain or hail - although rain is always welcome in a city like LA. So where is the sign from Heaven that gay marriage is an abomination.
To quote Leo Tolstoy, "Where love is, God is."Might that also apply to gay marriage?
Personally, I think God should apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah for destroying them for their sexual immorality/homosexuality; since God is allowing it to happen throughout this nation, like New York.
You may also want to read Genesis 19:4-24. But I doubt if that is in your "bible" also.