As New York approaches a sure-to-be-close vote on marriage equality, one undecided Republican senator put his vote to Twitter. “Opening up the discussion! So, if you were me, how would you vote on gay marriage? Yes or No?” Bigotry: Yay or nay?
“I thought it was better than sending Weiner-like photos,” he joked to Politico. Funny.
In any event, his Twitter users overwhelmingly suggested he vote yes on extending full marriage rights to gay and lesbian people. On Facebook, it was more of a 50/50 mix. Callers to the district office are leaning no. Ball wants “religious protections” to be added to the bill first, though the governor’s people sounded dubious on that front.
The vote has yet to be scheduled; as of Monday evening, here’s where it stood:
In the 62-member GOP-controlled state senate, 29 Democrats and two Republicans have pledged to support the bill. It is seen as not likely that Republican leadership will allow the chamber to vote on the bill if only one more Republican votes yes, thus a scramble is on to secure at least two more GOP votes for the bill, sources told POLITICO Monday.
Officials were tight-lipped to The Times, too.
Others are not nearly so fuzzy on the issue. A couple of days ago, New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg went to the state capital to push for marriage equality, evoking the history of slavery: “If you remember, at our founding, African-Americans were held in bondage.” Meanwhile, the bishop the Catholic church has put in charge of the anti-gay marriage effort is the same guy who in 2004 said, “You want to reduce something to the absurd, which is basically rhetorical use of an image: Why can’t we have marriages between people and pets? I mean, pets really love their masters, and why can’t we have a marriage so they could inherit their money?”
New York Senator a-Twitter Over Gay Marriage Vote [Politico]
With Clock Ticking, No Agreements To Report In Albany [NYT]
I Now Pronounce You Noun And Adjective [NYT]