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olliefreeNew York's Governor Paterson has re-introduced the state's Same-Sex Marriage Bill
Will New York be the next state to ratify Marriage Equality? That I don't know, and I'm not willing to place bets on. When the bill was first introduced in 2007, it made it past the house, but not the senate, and I don't know nearly enough about the constituency and representation of the state as a whole to make any guesses.
But I do feel that people standing up and saying the things that Patterson did today, of making this a big issue, is important. I think it's extremely important to make the statement that the Governor of the state is against the kind of passive discrimination that exists when there isn't marriage equality. Over 1,100 rights and responsibilities that you do not get when you have a Domestic Partnership or a Civil Union. That's not fair or equal. Whatever you may think of how he's handled other issues in the state, I have to say that today, I'm impressed.
I am not in any way attempting to instruct either the majority leader of the senate or the speaker of the assembly. They know their houses they will introduce their bills at the appropriate time. I am here to speak against those who I think are antagonistic and antithetical, and always have been, not only to Marriage Equality, but for EQUALITY for Gay and Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered citizens, who have stoked the flames of what is really an honest difference of opinion, or maybe even a little trepidation in favor of making sure that no legislation is ever passed at all, and I will not permit it on my watch. It's time to take a stand.
and
[. . .] rights should not be stifled by fear. What we should understand is that silence should not be a response to injustice. And if we take no action, we will surely lose. Maybe, we have already lost.
Will New York be the next state to ratify Marriage Equality? That I don't know, and I'm not willing to place bets on. When the bill was first introduced in 2007, it made it past the house, but not the senate, and I don't know nearly enough about the constituency and representation of the state as a whole to make any guesses.
But I do feel that people standing up and saying the things that Patterson did today, of making this a big issue, is important. I think it's extremely important to make the statement that the Governor of the state is against the kind of passive discrimination that exists when there isn't marriage equality. Over 1,100 rights and responsibilities that you do not get when you have a Domestic Partnership or a Civil Union. That's not fair or equal. Whatever you may think of how he's handled other issues in the state, I have to say that today, I'm impressed.
I am not in any way attempting to instruct either the majority leader of the senate or the speaker of the assembly. They know their houses they will introduce their bills at the appropriate time. I am here to speak against those who I think are antagonistic and antithetical, and always have been, not only to Marriage Equality, but for EQUALITY for Gay and Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered citizens, who have stoked the flames of what is really an honest difference of opinion, or maybe even a little trepidation in favor of making sure that no legislation is ever passed at all, and I will not permit it on my watch. It's time to take a stand.
and
[. . .] rights should not be stifled by fear. What we should understand is that silence should not be a response to injustice. And if we take no action, we will surely lose. Maybe, we have already lost.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-16 08:17 pm (UTC)