New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has allied with a bipartisan coalition of marriage equality groups to expand marriage to gays and lesbians before the end of the summer. The new umbrella group, called New Yorkers United for Marriage, includes Freedom To Marry, Marriage Equality New York, the Empire State Pride Agenda, and even the Log Cabin Republicans.
Meanwhile, opponents of the effort are launching a ‘Mayday for Marriage‘ bus tour “to inform New Yorkers as to the importance of the sacred institution of marriage,” financing automated calls urging voters to contact undecided lawmakers, and strengthening their ties to national anti-gay organizations. This morning, the New York Times profiled the religious coalition fighting against marriage equality and reported that New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, who leads the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, will be taking a more prominent role in the campaign. Here he is comparing same-sex marriage to incest:
Archbishop Dolan addressed the same-sex marriage issue in March during an interview on the CBS program “60 Minutes,” urging policy makers not to tamper with the definition of what he termed “authentic marriage.”
“I love my mom, but I don’t have the right to marry her,” said the archbishop, whose national public profile as a spokesman for church values rose last year, when he was elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Last month, Good As You’s Jeremy Hooper discovered that another anti-marriage group — the Coalition To Save Marriage in New York — has been propagating the discredited theory that gay people can leave the homosexual “lifestyle” and become straight. From the group’s Facebook page:
Rev. Rubén Díaz, a state senator from the Bronx, is leading the opposition in the state Senate and has announced plans to hold a rally on May 15 in the Bronx. Diaz — who held a similar event in 2009 — has urged participants “to paralyze all traffic in the Bronx” on that day and expects up to 30,000 participants.
Cuomo continues to advocate for marriage equality, saying he’s “optimistic” it will pass. Business leaders and clergy from across the state have also offered their support.
Previous in TP LGBT
By clicking and submitting a comment I acknowledge the ThinkProgress Privacy Policy and agree to the ThinkProgress Terms of Use. I understand that my comments are also being governed by Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, or Hotmail’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policies as applicable, which can be found here.