Heads up: Assembly passes Gay Marriage Equality Bill
Long story short, the NYS Assembly just passed a bill implementing full marriage equality. It probably won’t pass in the Senate, so don’t get your hopes up, but (according to phillip anderson) this still makes the Assembly the “only house of any legislature in the nation outside of California to pass such legislation.”
You can find the full story over at TAP.
I used TAP’s record of voting + Wikipedia to make this nice table, so you can see how each Rochester-area Assemblycritter voted. Tell me if I missed any.
| District | Representative | Party | First Elected | Residence | Voted |
| 129 | Brian Kolb | R | 2000 | Canandaigua | No |
| 130 | Joseph Errigo | R | 2000 | Conesus | No |
| 131 | Susan John | D | 1990 | Rochester | Yes |
| 132 | Joseph Morelle | D | 1990 | Irondequoit | Yes |
| 133 | David Gantt | D | 1982 | Rochester | No |
| 134 | Bill Reilich | R | 2002 | Greece | No |
| 135 | David Koon | D | 1996 | Perinton | Yes |
Update
H/T to TAP again
So Joe Bruno, Senate Majority Leader (R-Rensselaer), declared the bill “dead on arrival”. Meanwhile, Rochester-area Assemblyman Brian Kolb (R-Canandaigua) had this to say: “I do feel threatened. I do feel harmed,” by marriage equality.
Oh really? So the thought of two of your constituents having a joint insurance policy on their house makes you quake in your boots? Do you actually believe that the thought of two ladies finally being allowed to jointly adopt a child is “a direct challenge to me and how I was brought up?”
Ladies and Gentlemen, the state cannot legislate morality. If the thought of two men going at it makes you feel icky, I’m sorry for that. However, it’s going to happen in any case. The state, as a secular institution of government, has historically recognized marriage in order to make some short cuts, like finding next of kin or taxing the couple as a unit. All recognizing gay marriage does is give 142 million dollars in free money to New York City, change the distribution of some taxes and welfare, and give some people the right not to testify against their loved one.
Or does the existence of gay marriage force you to divorce your wife, abandon your children, and live the life of a transexual hooker?
Nice job! WTF is up with Gantt voting no? Bet there’s going to be some pissed off city residents.
Yeah, did you see his homophobic quote? I’ve updated my post to include it.
Also, thanks for the tip, it took me half an hour to figure out how CSS tables work.
I think that Gantt figures that there are more black voters in the city than gay voters, and that if Gantt has loyalties to anyone other than himself it is to black community/church leaders.
It’s a nasty little secret that homophobia is common in the black community, since many African-Americans are socially conservative evangelical Christians. In some communities, there are also tensions between black and gays caused when non-black gays begin to gentrify “traditionally black” neighborhoods.
What a great post ! Threatened by equal marriage rights-incrediable !
a good time to remind people- Gay Pride Parade, July 14th
Gantt is my representative and I’ve all but given up on him to do anything great.
Also…speaking of the Pride Parade, dfaROCHESTER will be marching in the parade with a candidate or two and we’re always looking for people to join us.
You can sign up and RSVP for the parade at:
http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=20485