Gay Marriage expected to pass: Emotional Night in Chamber
(AP) -- The New York Senate passed the marriage equality bill tonight after lengthy debate and negotiations. Advocates are already saying the tide is turning on the issue nationally.
Immediately Central New Yorkers were reacting on our CNYCentral page on Facebook: Ed Hrasdzira said , "Being a Gay Male....I think "EVERYONE" should have Equal Rights."
A veteran New York Republican senator who had been undecided said Friday night he will vote for gay marriage, the potential deciding vote in a divisive debate watched as a bellwether for the national gay rights movement.
Sen. Stephen Saland said he has long been undecided. He voted against a similar bill in 2009, helping kill the measure and dealing a blow to the national gay rights movement. Before he announced his intention, 31 senators were in favor, one short of a majority. If they all still vote that way, New York will become the sixth state, and by far the largest, where gay marriage is legal once Gov. Andrew Cuomo signs it into law.
The Democrat-led Assembly already passed the bill. GOP senators said it was Cuomo's passionate appeals in the governor's mansion on Monday night and in closed-door, individual meetings that were perhaps most persuasive. The bill would make New York 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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