NY Senate Promises Marriage Vote And Debate (Sometime This Year)

NY Gov. David Paterson appeared on the local news last night and with great gravitas announced that a major breakthrough had been made with the NY Senate regarding marriage equality. An agreement had been reached that the Senate would debate and vote on marriage equality at an unspecified date to occur before the end of the end. I was thinking, "THAT'S all you got?" but apparently the agreement is a big deal. Paul Schindler at Gay City News:

Flanked by four members of the State Senate Democratic majority and the leader of New York's LGBT lobby, Governor David A. Paterson announced an agreement by which the Senate leadership has, for the first time, agreed to debate and vote on a marriage equality bill before the end of 2009.

"This is the first time that the Senate leadership has indicated that it will support a vote on marriage equality," the governor said. "This is a stunning and very happy development in this process. I will continue to place marriage equality on any special sessions that I call on Monday and Tuesday because I feel that the bill should be debated immediately. However, I have profound respect for the leadership of the Senate and the process that they took to bring us to this vote."

Paterson was joined by the Senate's deputy majority leader, Jeffrey Klein, who represents portions of the Bronx and Weschester, Brooklyn Senator Eric Adams, Manhattan Senator Eric Schneiderman, and Thomas K. Duane, the out gay Chelsea senator who is the lead sponsor of the marriage equality bill. Alan Van Capelle, the executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, was also on hand.