New York governor signs gay marriage into law

NEW YORK – Gay New Yorkers basked Saturday in the glow of a landmark decision by the state legislature to legalize gay marriage, a powerful victory for rights advocates in one of the most populous US states.

Gay rights supporters chanted and danced in the streets of New York City into pre-dawn hours as news spread that the Republican-controlled senate had narrowly approved the “Marriage Equality Act” in the influential Empire State where the gay rights movement began 40 years ago.

Activists expressed hope the decision will galvanize the national gay rights movement after a series of setbacks.

Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the measure into law Friday just before midnight after the state assembly gave its final approval, making New York the sixth and largest US state where gay couples can legally wed once the bill takes effect in 30 days.

Cheers erupted in the senate galleries in the state capital Albany when legislators voted 33-29 to approve the measure after weeks of intense wrangling. The 29 Democratic senators were joined by four Republicans, one more than the minimum needed for approval.

US President Barack Obama visited New York a day before the vote, speaking at a fundraising gala sponsored by the gay and lesbian community, and while he did not explicitly endorse the bid to pass a gay marriage law, his appearance was seen as a shot in the arm for the movement.

Crowds of people gathered to hug, dance and cheer outside the Stonewall Inn, in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, where riots broke out on June 28, 1969 after police raided the gay-friendly bar. The incident is seen as the birth of the modern gay rights movement.

“I’m ecstatic! I was waiting 30 years for that moment,” said Frank Frederick, a 52-year-old doorman outside one of the bars near the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street.

Cuomo, who had lobbied hard for the measure, beamed after its approval.

“What we accomplished this evening with marriage equality really in some ways brings it all home. Because this state, when it is at its finest, is a beacon for social justice,” Cuomo said at a press conference soon after the vote.

Marc Grisanti, one of the Republicans who voted for the measure in Albany, agonized over his decision.

“I cannot legally come up with an argument against same-sex marriage,” Grisanti said as he was about to vote. “I cannot deny a person, a human being… the same rights I have with my wife.”

The first Republican to break ranks with the conservative party this year was senator James Alesi, who voted against the bill in 2009.

But Ruben Diaz, the only Democratic senator to vote against the measure, said “God, not Albany, has settled the definition of marriage, a long time ago.”

The outcome of the vote marked a dramatic reversal of fortune for gay rights activists after the New York senate soundly rejected a similar bill in December 2009, and similar measures failed in New Jersey in 2010 and in Maryland and Rhode Island earlier this year.

“Today is a day to celebrate, but we must be ever vigilant in protecting this victory we’ve worked so hard to win,” said Ross Levi, executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda.

“We need to help frame the national narrative… so equality and justice do not end at our borders.”

New York state lawmakers had been in drawn-out negotiations in an extraordinary session, putting final touches on language designed to address legal protections for religious organizations that did not want to be charged with discrimination if they object to same-sex marriage.

New York followed the path of Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont in approving gay marriage after a March poll found that 53 percent of Americans are in favor of allowing gay marriage.

Some states like California offer same-sex civil unions, but not marriage rights. That means the parties have some legal rights like married couples but not all.

The American Civil Liberties Union applauded what it called “a victory for families and a victory for human rights” in New York.

The Log Cabin Republicans, which represents gay members of the party, congratulated the Republicans who voted in favor of the bill.

“Republicans in the New York state senate stood up for true conservative values: individual liberty, personal freedom and equal rights for all, and we thank them for voting on the right side of history,” said Gregory Angelo, head of the group’s New York chapter.

But the New York state Catholic Conference of bishops said approval of a bill “to alter radically and forever humanity’s historic understanding of marriage leaves us deeply disappointed and troubled.”