Sad news as a marriage equality bill failed in the New York State Senate:
The bill failed, with 24 senators voting for it, but 38 voting against. Thirty-two votes were needed to pass the bill.
The state Assembly approved the bill earlier this year, and voted again Wednesday night, 88-51, to approve it.
A Marist College poll released Wednesday showed 51 percent of New Yorkers support legalizing gay marriage, while 42 percent opposed the measure.
Among other things, this highlights the fallacy, in the American political context, of drawing a sharp distinction between expanding rights through the court system and through democratic methods. If marriage equality were put in place in New York through a judicial ruling, it’s clear that opponents wouldn’t be able to overturn it. The governor supports equality, as does the State Assembly and a majority of the public. But it takes concurrent action by three branches of government to change the status quo, so the status quo will remain in place.
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