WXXI: Senate Gives Mixed Signals on Gay Marriage (2009-06-01)

There are mixed signals coming out of the State Senate on whether a bill to legalize same sex marriage will be approved or not before the legislative session ends in three weeks.

The sponsor of the bill to legalize same sex marriage, Senator Tom Duane, predicts that the State Senate will vote on and approve the measure before the session ends in late June.

"I am confident that it's coming to the floor, I'm confident it's going to win," said Duane.

But a spokesman for the Senate Majority Leader, Austin Shafran, in a briefing on priority end of session issues, did not mention gay marriage on the Senate's list. When asked, he sounded less optimistic than the Senate sponsor, saying that at this point, Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith "does not believe there are sufficient votes to pass it".

There needs to be at least 32 yes votes in the Senate in order for same sex marriage to become legal in New York. The Assembly has already approved the measure. The Democrats have a 32-seat majority, but a handful of Democratic Senators are against legalizing gay marriage, so the bill will need the backing of some of the Senate's 30 Republican Senators. Senate GOP Leader Dean Skelos has said that his members should vote their conscience on the issue, if it does come to the floor.

Senate Leader Smith, along with US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, later spoke at an event Senator Duane had scheduled with dozens of gay and lesbian couples from across New York who had come to the Capitol to lobby for a law. Smith struck a more positive note.

"We are going to have marriage equality in the state of New York," said Smith. "That will happen."

But the Senator did not tell the couples when the measure would be brought to the Senate floor. Later, under questioning from reporters, Smith said there was no contradiction between the remarks of his press secretary and the Senator's more optimistic sounding statements to the same sex couples.

"I don't want to bring the bill to the floor until I have 32 votes," said Smith. Smith says while momentum seems to be growing toward the measure, he wants to remain "cautious" in his predictions.

" I don't want it to be symbolic, when I bring it to the floor I want to pass it," Smith said.

pposition groups, including the Christian organization, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedom, dispute the claim that the votes are there for passage. The Reverend Duane Motley says his group is counting heads in the Senate, too, and he says there presently are not the 32 yes votes that are needed.

"They don't have the votes," said Motley, who said Senator Duane was just trying to "drum up a little support", and put pressure on Senators that advocates are trying to sway.

Governor David Paterson, who a few weeks ago gave a fiery, heart felt speech in favor of same sex marriage, has pulled back a bit from his prior, public advocacy. When asked whether or not he would try to lobby wavering Senators in the remaining days of session to convince them to vote for gay marriage, the Governor said, "yes", but said he would also be talking to them on a number of other issues, as well.

Meanwhile, both sides are stepping up their efforts to persuade wavering Senators. Several pro and con TV commercials are running, and at least one rally is planned.