Skip to main content

FM
Former Member


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Supporters and opponents of gay marriage made 11th-hour appeals on Sunday as state lawmakers weighed a vote on making New York the sixth state -- and the most populous -- to legalize same-sex marriage.

Source:
Huffintonpost.com

The measure that would make gay marriage legal, introduced by Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat and strong advocate, is currently one vote shy of passage in the state Senate.

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Anderson Cooper Calls Out Obama's Gay Marriage Flip Flopping:

Anderson Cooper called out President Obama on his Tuesday show for flip-flopping on gay marriage.

Obama is under increased scrutiny about his "evolving" views on gay rights in the wake of the battle for gay marriage in New York. Obama will be in the state on Thursday to attend a high-priced fundraiser with gay donors.

In his "Keeping Them Honest" segment, Cooper said, "New questions are being raised about what the president actually believes about gay marriage and whether his public opposition to it is real or just political posturing."

Full story...
FM
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – A top ranking Republican in New York's Senate said Friday that legislators don't want to let a much-anticipated vote on gay marriage drag into the weekend.

Deputy Majority Leader Thomas Libous said the 32 Republican senators who hold the majority in that chamber could meet behind closed doors later Friday to decide whether to send the bill to the floor for a vote after they get through other bills.

"I don't know what the leader's plans are, but I believe that will be discussed at some point today," Libous said.

The Broome County Republican said that if the caucus sends the gay marriage bill out, it could be voted on Friday.
FM
A Muslim American's Thoughts on Gay Marriage:
When you are a compassionate person, you also fight against injustice.

As a Muslim, I have always been taught to be compassionate.

When I was about fifteen years old and lived in upstate New York, I was part of a track club. This club, a group of high school runners, competed during the school year and through the summer. Our coach was a man from the Bronx who brought us to competitions in New York City. My mother lived in NYC at the time (and still does) and once accompanied us to a competition as a chaperone. We drove there, in a van, my mother and coach sitting in the front seats. The drive had us passing the Gay Pride Parade -- which none of us were aware was happening that day.

At the time I was a young, naive, somewhat ignorant youth which included being homophobic. These were also the characteristics of a number of the other young athletes in the van. Gawking out the windows, we made jokes, laughed, expressed dismay -- and did so loudly and crudely.

My mother then turned around and snapped at us, "What you're doing is exactly what happened to black people 30 years ago!"

The van was quiet. For the rest of the ride through the Pride parade, we were silent and thinking about what she said. Most of us came from working and middle class black families where the lessons and stories of the civil rights and black liberation movements were fully integrated into our understanding of the world. For me, that same story was intertwined with the freedom of religion that is intrinsic to the American experience. Were it not for that basic principle, then I would not be the man I am -- following a religion of my own choosing.

This brings me to today. This weekend, the New York State legislature approved gay marriage in an eleventh hour push that brought people to the streets of New York City and set up yesterday's Gay Pride Parade as a celebration of years of pushing and overcoming the failed promises of two Governors (Eliot Spitzer and David Patterson).

As someone that is part of two minority groups in the United States (Muslims and African-Americans) I feel that this ruling is a victory for all of us. Majorities in the country have attempted to define the American experience in limited and controlled terms. To be American means you need to be white, Christian, and of course, straight. There is nothing further from the truth. To be American and to enjoy the rights and privileges therein you simply have to live here and pay taxes. This is a diverse nation and to limit the rights of one group opens the potential to limit your rights.

Aolnews.com
FM

Add Reply

×
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×