Gay Marriage Gets Another Assembly Republican
May 4, 2009
The Log Cabin Republicans of New York, the state's GOP gay rights group, announced today a member of the the Assembly minority - Fred Thiele - has decided to cosponsor the same-sex marriage bill.
This brings to the number of GOP Assembly members willing to vote "yes" on the bill up to five. In 2007, four Republicans - Mike Spano (who has since become a Democrat), Joel Miller, Teresa Sayward and Dede Scozzafava - joined 81 Democrats to pass the same-sex marriage bill in that house for the first time in New York history.
(NOTE: Republican Assemblywoman Janet Duprey did not vote "yes" in 2007, but has since changed her position on the issue and is now in favor of marriage).
"I am committed to the civil rights of all New Yorkers," Thiele said in a statement released by Log Cabin. "I didn’t support the bill in 2007 because I thought equal rights could be guaranteed through civil unions."
"Since then more states have experimented with civil unions as separate but equal, only to find that discrimination persisted in health care and other areas. The only way to ensure equality is by giving all couples access to the same civil right - the right to marry."
Thiele hails from Long Island, where another group working on marriage, the Empire State Pride Agenda, has been polling in GOP Senate districts in hopes of landing votes in the minority conference to make up for the six Democrats who have said they won't vote "yes" when - and if - the bill ever makes it to the floor.
Log Cabin lobbyist Jeff Cook said the organization maxed out last year to the four Assembly Republicans who voted in favor of marriage and is promising to do the same in the 2010 cycle for any GOP lawmaker who does the same this year.
Both the Assembly and Senate minority leaders have said they will let their members vote their conscience on marriage and won't make the issue a party-line vote.
Cook, who is here in Albany today to continue his lobbying efforts, said he expects to grow the number of "yes" votes in the Assembly, but refused to predict what the final number would be.
The Assembly Judiciary Committee approved the gay marriage bill last week, and it was originally expected to come to the floor for a vote tomorrow.
But the funeral of the late Sen. John Marchi and the ongoing MTA mess delayed the start of today's session until 5 p.m. and pushed everything back. Advocates are now expecting the bill to be taken up by the Assembly next week.
It's anyone's guess when the Senate will move on marriage. Majority Leader Malcolm Smith has said he won't let Gov. David Paterson's program bill come to the floor until it has at least 32 votes, but the legislation hasn't even been scheduled to be taken up in committee yet.
May 4, 2009
The Log Cabin Republicans of New York, the state's GOP gay rights group, announced today a member of the the Assembly minority - Fred Thiele - has decided to cosponsor the same-sex marriage bill.
This brings to the number of GOP Assembly members willing to vote "yes" on the bill up to five. In 2007, four Republicans - Mike Spano (who has since become a Democrat), Joel Miller, Teresa Sayward and Dede Scozzafava - joined 81 Democrats to pass the same-sex marriage bill in that house for the first time in New York history.
(NOTE: Republican Assemblywoman Janet Duprey did not vote "yes" in 2007, but has since changed her position on the issue and is now in favor of marriage).
"I am committed to the civil rights of all New Yorkers," Thiele said in a statement released by Log Cabin. "I didn’t support the bill in 2007 because I thought equal rights could be guaranteed through civil unions."
"Since then more states have experimented with civil unions as separate but equal, only to find that discrimination persisted in health care and other areas. The only way to ensure equality is by giving all couples access to the same civil right - the right to marry."
Thiele hails from Long Island, where another group working on marriage, the Empire State Pride Agenda, has been polling in GOP Senate districts in hopes of landing votes in the minority conference to make up for the six Democrats who have said they won't vote "yes" when - and if - the bill ever makes it to the floor.
Log Cabin lobbyist Jeff Cook said the organization maxed out last year to the four Assembly Republicans who voted in favor of marriage and is promising to do the same in the 2010 cycle for any GOP lawmaker who does the same this year.
Both the Assembly and Senate minority leaders have said they will let their members vote their conscience on marriage and won't make the issue a party-line vote.
Cook, who is here in Albany today to continue his lobbying efforts, said he expects to grow the number of "yes" votes in the Assembly, but refused to predict what the final number would be.
The Assembly Judiciary Committee approved the gay marriage bill last week, and it was originally expected to come to the floor for a vote tomorrow.
But the funeral of the late Sen. John Marchi and the ongoing MTA mess delayed the start of today's session until 5 p.m. and pushed everything back. Advocates are now expecting the bill to be taken up by the Assembly next week.
It's anyone's guess when the Senate will move on marriage. Majority Leader Malcolm Smith has said he won't let Gov. David Paterson's program bill come to the floor until it has at least 32 votes, but the legislation hasn't even been scheduled to be taken up in committee yet.
