Carl Paladino, the Gift That Keeps On Giving. Anne Coulter Chimes In.

Image by azipaybarah via FlickrAs I reported over the weekend, GOP candidate for governor of New York, Carl Paladino made some outrageously hateful statements about the gays in his speech on Sunday to a group of Othodox Jews. Paladino has been facing a shit storm of criticism since he told the Brooklyn group, "I just think my children, and your children, will be much better off, and much more successful getting married and raising a family. And I don't want them to be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid or successful option. It isn't."

Paladino seems to have been left flapping in the breeze by his party. Interestingly, the GOP has not jumped to Paladino's defense. In fact, they are following the lead of GOProud on this one. GOProud Chairman Christopher Barron called Paladino "an embarrassment" on Tuesday, adding, "If he's going to act like a buffoon, he should be treated by the party and the conservative movement as a buffoon."

When word of his homophobic remarks got out, Paladino first he said was was owed an apology, then we came out with a half-hearted apology, possibly because of this little hidden tidbit in his past. Paladino owns a lot of commercial real estate and two of his properties were gay night clubs. The Huffington Post reported on Wednesday:

State liquor license records show that New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino had once collected rent from two gay clubs located in buildings he owned in downtown Buffalo, according to a published report.

The report in the Daily News on Wednesday comes just after Paladino told a group of Orthodox Jewish leaders that he opposed schools for what he called "brainwashing" of students into thinking that being gay is just another choice and "not the way God created us."

Huff Po says  that one of the bars, Cobalt, was run by Paladino's son William in 2004 and '05. That might help explain a lot.

It seems that mouthy 'mophobe does have one supporter in the Ann Coulter, fresh off her stint as key note speaker at HOMOCON last month. The icy icon of the neocons claims the gubernatorial hopeful was just playing the game and telling the audience what they wanted to hear. Huff Po reported it this way:

Speaking to Bill O'Reilly on Fox News Monday, Coulter said she felt the need to come to the Republican's defense after it seemed everyone else had stopped backing him.

"I think someone on this network should [defend him]," she said, calling Paladino a "great warrior" who wants to lower taxes.

Asked about the specifics of the speech — in which Paladino warned against letting children be "brainwashed" into thinking homosexuality is an "equally valid or successful option" — Coulter said the candidate was just giving his socially conservative audience the red meat it wanted.

"He's speaking to Hasidim...it's like being in Chicago. You say, 'Go Cubs,'" she said.

These statements say more about Coulter than Paladino. I've long suspected that she's doing an act when she spews her venom. She'll do anything and say anything for a buck and it's worked out very well for her. The more outrageous she is, the more the right-wing nut jobs lap it up.

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GOP Candidate for NY Gov. Makes Homophobic Remarks in Speech (video)

Republican candidate for governor, Carl Paladino told a group of Orthodox Jews in a Brooklyn neighborhood, that he didn't want children "to be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid or successful option," compared to heterosexuality. It isn't."

According to reports at CNN.com, the statehouse hopeful released copies of a prepared statement ahead of his speech, that included these remarks, which he left out "There is nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homosexual. That's not how (God) created us."


Paladino's remarks came just one day after news broke of the arrest of eight gang members in the case of an attack on three gay men who were abducted and tortured last weekend in the Bronx.

Paladino's Democratic challenger Attorney General Andrew Cuomo released a statement, saying, "Mr. Paladino's statement displays a stunning homophobia and a glaring disregard for basic equality. These comments along with other views he has espoused make it clear that he is way out of the mainstream and is unfit to represent New York."

On National Coming Out Day, let me say that there is plenty to be proud of in being a fully functional gay man. What is shameful and inexcusable is making untrue, hateful, homophobic statements to a religious group in order to win their support, then back peddling afterward by saying, "Don't misquote me as wanting to hurt homosexual people in any way. That would be a dastardly lie -- my approach is live and let live."

Don't worry, Carl, we won't misquote you. We don't have to. We'll let your idiocy speak for itself. 
 

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• NY GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Carl Paladino Calls Gays "Dysfunctional" (alan.com)
• "Carl Paladino: "I oppose the homosexual agenda whether they call it marriage, civil unions or domestic partnership"" and related posts (blabbeando.blogspot.com)
• NY GOP candidate: Homosexuality not 'valid' (cnn.com)
• Paladino Attacks Gays in Brooklyn Speech (nytimes.com)
• NY Orthodox Jewish leaders put wannabe Governor Paladino in tight spot over gays (freethinker.co.uk)
• NYT: N.Y. gubernatorial hopeful slams gays (msnbc.msn.com)

Cool Site of the Week/Joe.My.God.: Sen. Chambliss Apologizes to Joe for Staffer's Anti-gay Threat

Blogger, Joe Jervis of Joe.My.God.

After the senate Republicans successfully scuttled the vote on this year's Defense Authorization Act, which contains language to repel DADT, a comment appeared on the popular blog, Joe.My.God, saying "All faggots must die." The commenter signed it only as "Jimmy".

Joe Jervis, the award-winning New York blogger behind JMG is not one to take something like that lying down. With the help of some contacts, Jervis was able to trace the IP address to the Atlanta  Senate Offices of  Republican Saxby Chambliss. You can follow the leads here.

Jervis reported yesterday that he received a personal phone call from Sen. Chambliss apologizing for the actions of his staffer. Joe was not going to let him off the hook so easily. Following is Joe's account of the conversation:

CHAMBLISS: "Joe, I don't know if you're Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, but none of that should matter. Because what was said on your blog by someone from my office is just not acceptable, no matter who is saying it and who it's being said to. I just want to offer my sincerest apologies. There has been some talk about how long it's taking to find the person behind this, but we just wanted to be very careful and handed this off to the Senate Sergeant at Arms, because this is going to seriously impact somebody's life and we wanted to make sure we got this right. So again, I just wanted to call you and personally apologize."

JMG: "Thank you, Senator. I do appreciate the call and I do accept your apology on the condition that your office issues a public statement repeating what you've just said to me. I'd also like the disposition of your staffer's job status to be made public."

CHAMBLISS: (Speaking to someone in his office: "Has that gone out yet?) "Joe, I believe our statement is ready and will be going out this afternoon."

I love it! Joe totally rocks! This is why I he's one of my favorite bloggers. He doesn't take any shit and never backs down. For all of these reasons -- plus getting a homophobic asshole fired -- I am bestowing Joe.My.God. the coveted Cool Site of the Week award. JMG was one of the first queer blogs I discovered a few years ago. Joe inspires me every day to dig deeper and go farther than I otherwise might do. Mazel tov, Joe!

MSNBC's Keith Olberman also weighed in on the story and had this to say:

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Star-studded Marriage Equality Ads to Begin in New York This Week (video)

Image via WikipediaYou would think that a liberal state like New York would have been among the first to recognize the inherent right of its citizens to marry those they love, regardless of gender. Sadly that is not the case. Last year the New York state legislature voted down same-sex marriage even though a majority of Empire State citizens support marriage equality.

This week HRC is kicks off a major ad campaign appealing directly to voters using celebrity spokespeople. The New York Times reports this morning, "The timing of commercials is deliberate, and revealing: With the front-runner in the governor’s race, Andrew M. Cuomo, the Democratic attorney general, pledging his support for same-sex marriage, and the Legislature in Democratic hands, advocates are pushing for a new vote early next year. “We want to build excitement and momentum in advance of that,” said Brian V. Ellner, of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization that is sponsoring the ads."

This one features actress Julianne Moore. Other ads will feature designer Kenneth Cole, actor Kyra Sedgewick, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Rev. Al Sharpton.

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Today Show to Allow Gay Couples in Wedding Contest

NBC's The Today Show caved in to pressure from the LGBT community and GLAAD over their decision not to allow gays and lesbians to participate in the Modern Day Wedding contest. The prize is a big fancy-schmancy wedding in New York, paid for by the peacock network.

The "straights only" policy was first made public by the blog, Good As You, which caught the attention of GLAAD, who called on Today to open the contest to same-sex couples. Online petitions and e-mail campaigns were launched, which made the suits at NBC sit up and take notice.

Contest organizers (and a lot of us as well) were under the mistaken impression that same-sex marriage was illegal in New York State. GLAAD pointed out that although New York cannot legally issue licenses to same-sex couples, the state does recognize those licenses issued in states where same-sex marriage is legal and therefore, for couples with such a  license, a ceremony can legally take place. Confused yet?

Today Show producers posted the following on its website yesterday:

Over the past few days TODAY has received a considerable response regarding our wedding contest application. The rules stated that eligible couples must be able to be legally married in New York, where we will host the wedding, therefore excluding same-sex couple applicants. Our intent was not to be discriminatory or exclusive. In 2005 when the wedding took place outside of New York, the application process was open to same-sex couples. We have listened to every voicemail and read every email. We take this feedback seriously, and we will change our application process. TODAY is a longtime supporter of the LGBT community, and GLAAD considers us an ally. We are committed to keeping those relationships strong and positive. We have opened up the application process to same-sex couples, and will extend the deadline to Monday, July 12. Moving forward, we ensure that our future wedding contests will be inclusive of all couples.

GLAAD said in a statement yesterday afternoon:

Following a meeting between GLAAD and NBC executives, NBC announced that after listening to community concerns it will open the contest to same-sex couples and extend the submission deadline until Monday, July 12. Couples now have until then to apply.  Finalists will be announced later this year and the wedding takes place live on the Today Show this October.

We’re thrilled that Today Show's ‘Modern Wedding Contest’ now recognizes what most fair-minded Americans have already concluded - a wedding celebrates love and commitment, whether the spouses are straight or gay. NBC heard the thousands of viewers who contacted them and they have moved to make their contest a truly modern wedding where any couple can share their story. NBC is living up to its own high standard of fairness and for this, we applaud them.  We encourage qualified same-sex couples to submit their applications before Monday, July 12 and we look forward to next year when same-sex couples will have the ability to apply to the contest from the beginning.

 Interested couples can submit their applications via the Today Show FaceBook page.

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Call to Action: Today Show's Wedding Contest Discriminates Against Gays and Lesbians

NBC's Today Show is doing another one of its over the top "win a free wedding" contests, called "Modern Day Wedding" and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is calling them out on their "straights only" policy. GLAAD contacted the Today Show and questioned them about their application listing only bride and groom as possible entrants.

The response GLAAD received from the longest running morning show said, “For the TODAY show wedding, the couple must be able to be legally married in New York, which is where the wedding will take place." Here is GLAAD's response, as posted on its website:

This is not a valid argument since New York State legally recognizes same-sex marriages licensed in other states. Same-sex couples can now legally obtain marriage licenses in Iowa, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Washington D.C. NBC is mistakenly equating the marriage license with the wedding celebration. Same-sex weddings are entirely legal in New York State.  As long as the marriage license is conferred upon the same-sex couple by another state, New York State recognizes the marriage as a fully valid and legal one. NBC’s exclusion of same-sex couples from its contest is not motivated by the law, but bias against these couples.

The Today Show is awarding a wedding celebration, not a marriage license.  If a same-sex couple won the contest, producers and the winning couple could easily work together to ensure that the couple properly obtained and complied with the requirements of a marriage license in one of the license-conferring jurisdictions. The full wedding celebration would then take place on the Today Show.  Given these legal realities, GLAAD has urged NBC to amend its contest rules and allow same-sex couples to apply.

You can take action and strike a blow for fairness and equality by contacting NBC and demanding that the Today Show demonstrates just how modern it is by opening the "Modern Day Wedding" contest to same-sex couples. Change.org, which first broke the story, has set up an on line petition demanding that Today allow same-sex couple to compete just as they have done in Today's past contest, "Hometown Wedding".

Or, you can contact the following NBC executives directly by e-mail and demand that they change this discriminatory contest rule immediately:

Jim Bell, Executive Producer
NBC Today Show
(212) 664-4602
today@nbc.com
jim.bell@nbcuni.com

Lauren Kapp, Senior Vice President, NBC News Marketing & Communications
NBC Television Network
(212) 664-4444
lauren.kapp@nbcuni.com

William Bartlett, Corporate Communications Senior Vice-President
NBC Television Network
(212) 664-4444
william.bartlett@nbcuni.com

Kathy Kelly-Brown, Corporate Communications Senior Vice-President
NBC Television Network
(212) 664-4444
kathy.kelly-brown@nbcuni.com

Megan Kopf, Corporate Communications Manager
NBC Television Network
(212) 664-4444
megan.kopf@nbcuni.com

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Lena Horne: The Passing of a Legend

There aren't too many entertainers that manage to have a 60 year career that is marked by consistent excellence. Lena Horne not only sang with the same force in her later years as she did when she started out at 16, but through all those years, her statuesque beauty never faded.

I never had the fortune to see Lena perform live on stage, but she was a frequent guest on TV talk shows and variety shows during the 60's and 70's when I was growing up. Each time I saw her, she looked exactly the same and her voice was just as powerful.

In the summer of 1981 I went to New York with my best friend Charles for a weekend of Broadway shows and night clubbing. We stayed with a friend of his in Queens and went into Manhattan first thing Saturday morning to get the cheapest matinee tickets we could get at the TKTS booth in Times Square. We couldn't get tickets for Lena's one-woman show, "Lena Horne, The Lady and Her Music". They just weren't available.

We saw two other shows, the Fats Waller musical "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Sophisticated Ladies", the Duke Ellington Musical starring the late Gregory Hines, Judith Jamison, Hinton Battle and the late, great Phyllis Hyman. Two of the best productions ever. This was back in the days before Disney owned most of the Theater District, before seeing a Broadway show was reduced to nothing more than a trip to a theme park.

We saw the matinee shows not just because they were cheaper, but because it would leave the nights free for partying. On Saturday night we headed out to The Saint, one of the last big gay clubs in the last days of disco. We made our way down 41st St. and as we passed the Nederlander Theatre, I looked over to see a big black limousine by the curb. The tinted window in the back seat went down to reveal the brightest smile I had ever seen in my 21 years (or since). Charles was a few paces ahead of me. I wanted to play it cool, but I had to let him know. I sort of half-yelled, in my best stage whisper, "It's Lena!" As he turned, the limo pulled away and sped off into the night. He had totally missed her, but the memory of that dazzling smile and that classically beautiful and timeless face is forever burned into my memory.

Rest in peace Miss Horne.

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From Protest March to Lavish Parades: Has Pride Lost its Meaning?

Since the passing and subsequent upholding of California's Proposition 8, a renewed sense of grass roots activism has swept the LGBT Community across the nation and around the world. The National March on Washington last fall drew roughly 200,000 LGBT Americans from all over the U.S. to the nation's capital to demand that our leaders take action in securing full and equal protection under the law for our community. People came home from the march with a renewed sense of purpose and energy.
As Pride season quickly approaches, there is a move underway to re-infuse a sense of political action to the annual parades, festivals and parties. The group, Take Back Pride has issued an open letter to the LGBT Community calling for a return to our movement's activist roots.

The letter states, in part, "The organizers of Pride Marches around the country work tirelessly over the course of the year to bring us the most inclusive marches and celebrations in the world. We want to help those organizers by working with them to implement plans for education and protest within our marches."

This year there will be another mini-march of sorts at Pride in the Park in September. I encourage you all to take part in the march and to bring your protest signs and/or banners and wear your protest t-shirts calling for action from our elected officials.

We should never forget that the first "Pride Parades" were actually "Gay Liberation" protests held in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, on June 29, 1970 to mark the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. They were political demonstrations against discriminatory laws that have cost our community our jobs, our families, our homes and our dignity.

In the 40 years since those first marches, we can still lose our jobs in 29 states -- including Virginia -- just for being who we are. We still cannot serve our country openly in the U.S. military. Our families are denied full legal recognition and protection.

So this year, whether you travel to another city for Pride and/or when you turn out here in Roanoke this September, bring the spirit of Stonewall with you. Have a great time, but never forget, that it's not about being fabulous, it's about fighting for your rights. Following is the full text of the letter from TakeBackPride.com For the sake of space I have included only a few of the 60+ activists, bloggers and others who have cosigned the letter:

Dear Members of the LGBTQ Community, Our Allies and Community Partners,

While last year we celebrated the 40th Anniversary of our liberation at Stonewall on the last Sunday of June in 1969, we are celebrating another anniversary in 2010. And we need to do it right.

On the last Sunday in June 1970, Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activists Alliance, in commemoration of the Stonewall riots, staged the first “Gay Liberation Day March.” Organizers in Los Angeles and San Francisco also held marches that day.

We have much to celebrate. As a community we have struggled and fought for our very lives. Together, we have accomplished what at one time was a fantasy at best. Our sexual liberation has been celebrated every year now for 40 years with what was once a march and is now a parade, in the streets of New York and dozens of other cities across the country and the world.

This year, in light of the major battles we have ahead of us, we are asking for all of you to join us in taking back pride. While we have so much to be proud of in what we have accomplished as a community, this fight is far from over. We want our community to not only remember those who have fought and died before us, but to forge ahead in the struggle -- so that our children may one day live truly free and equal lives in this country.

The organizers of Pride Marches around the country work tirelessly over the course of the year to bring us the most inclusive marches and celebrations in the world. We want to help those organizers by working with them to implement plans for education and protest within our marches.

We know that our community is made up of every race, creed, religious affiliation and political background imaginable. We come from everywhere, from Africa to New Zealand. We represent Conservatives and Socialists. We are made up of Catholics and Buddhists alike. The time has come to embrace our ideals and differences and remember that what we have in common as a community - is our strength.

For Pride 2010, we ask that organizers and participants of marches around this great country take this opportunity to be heard. Yell. Scream. Chant. Wear your chaps and thongs, but carry a sign while you do it. Put on your most sequined ball gown, but shout for your rights as you flaunt your fabulousness. The sheer number of people who turn out in the streets this June will send a clear message around the world that we are not content with what we have. We are somebody. We deserve full equality.

If you’re marching with a group, ask your group what they are angry about. It could be Marriage Inequality, or Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. It could be that in 31 states, you can still be fired for being gay (see the “What Are You Angry About” section of the Take Back Pride page.)

We owe it to our community and to those young gay people who are still afraid to say who they are to TAKE BACK PRIDE. Make your signs. Create your chants. It’s time for us all to remember this is a march, not a parade. This is OUR celebration of who we are and it has the potential to once again be something we are ALL truly proud of.

On Tuesday, May 11th in New York City, we will be having a community town hall discussion about what we can do to Take Back Pride. We encourage all groups participating in Pride to take part. And for those of you outside New York, the meeting will be posted on YouTube. You may also visit www.TakeBackPride.org to see how YOU can help Take Back Pride.

Jamie McGonnigal, www.TalkAboutEquality.org

Lt. Dan Choi, U.S. National Guard

Alan Bounville, Member-Queer Rising, New York

Robin McGehee, GetEQUAL

Wayne Besen, Founder & Executive Director Truth Wins Out

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British Drama Features Controversial Gay "Pioneer" Quentin Crisp

The UK television network ITV will be airing the drama, "An Englishman in New York", starring John Hurt, Cynthia Nixon and Swoosie Kurtz tonight, based on the life of the late Quentin Crisp, author of the semi-auotbiographical, book "The Naked Civil Servant", much to the consternation of  British LGBT rights activists.

In the decades before and early years following Stonewall and the modern gay rights movement, there were few, if any, positive depictions of gays and lesbians in the media. "The Naked Civil Servant" was later made into a film, starring John Hurt in his first portrayal of Crisp in 1975, making Crisp an international celebrity.

During the 60's and 70's the only openly gay man any of us had as a role model was Quentin Crisp, who was a frequent guest on TV talk shows like the "Dick Cavett Show" and "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson". It was a mixed blessing. While Crisp was defiantly out in a very public way, he was very old school in his self-loathing as a gay man. His flamboyant style, which included wearing makeup and nail polish as a boy, made him the frequent target of abuse in school, which would shape his self-perception for the rest of his 90-year life.

British LGBT rights activist Peter Tatchell of OutRage! accuses the ITV bio-drama of sanitizing Crisps controversial life in tonight's airing of "An Englishman in New York". In a press release sent out Monday morning, Tatchell says, "Quentin Crisp was a contradictory, infuriating figure. Although astonishingly brave and defiant as an out gay man in the 1930s and 40s, he was later defiantly self-obsessed, homophobic and reactionary. Quentin denounced the gay rights movement and slammed homosexuality as 'a terrible disease'; adding that 'the world would be better without homosexuals."

Tatchell's press release goes on to say:

"This is a good film, with another stunning performance by John Hurt, but it sanitises Crisp's ignorant, pompous homophobia. Quentin disparaged homosexuality as an illness, affliction, burden, curse and abnormality. He regarded himself as 'disfigured' by his gayness. He never spoke out for gay rights or supported any gay equality cause," added Mr Tatchell.

"An Englishman in New York invites us to admire Crisp as a hero and pioneer. By the time he moved to the United States he had ceased to be either heroic or pioneering. He turned into an ever-more bitter, self-obsessed person who resented that they way millions of gay people had come out and stolen his limelight.

"Quentin hated the fact that he was no longer unique - no longer the only visible queer on the block. For this reason, he loathed the gay liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s. It had encouraged and empowered the mass coming out of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. He disliked being over-taken and over-shadowed by others; dismissing the new generations of out and proud gay people as johnny-come-latelys.

"He never backed any campaign against homophobic discrimination or violence, and he declined to condemn anti-gay politicians and preachers.

"Quentin Crisp is no gay icon. The true icons and pioneers of the modern British gay community are heroes like Allan Horsfall and Antony Grey. They were the driving forces of the first gay rights organisations in Britain - the North West Homosexual Law Reform Committee set up in 1964 and the Homosexual Law Reform Society, established earlier in 1958. These two men, who are still alive and have never received the public recognition they deserve, have done far more for gay dignity and advancement than Quentin Crisp.

"Crisp is a pale shadow of US gay rights trailblazers like Harry Hay, Frank Kameny, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon.

"The film acknowledges that Crisp disgracefully dismissed Aids as a 'fad', at a time when thousands of gay men were dying and the US government was largely ignoring the epidemic. Sadly, it ignores his ridiculing of the gay liberation movement and his dismissal of the struggle for lesbian and gay equal rights.

"Echoing the worst homophobes, Crisp said that gay men were incapable of love and incapable of caring about other people. The supposed lack of altruism among gay men was, according to Quentin, because they had 'feminine minds.' He was a misogynist, as well as a homophobe.

"In 1997, he told The Times that he would advise parents to abort a foetus if could be shown to be genetically predetermined to be gay: 'If it (homosexuality) can be avoided, I think it should be.'

"Compared to The Naked Civil Servant, this is a much less satisfying film, partly because it portrays Quentin true to life, as a much less sympathetic warts-and-all character, which is what he became in the latter part of his life," said Mr Tatchell.

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New York Senate Votes Down Marriage Equality

Image by arimoore via Flickr

In a crushing defeat, the NY state senate voted against same-sex marriage on Wednesday. The Huffington Post Reports:

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York lawmakers on Wednesday rejected a bill that would have made their state the sixth to allow gay marriage, stunning advocates who suffered a similar decision by Maine voters just last month.

The New York measure needed 32 votes to pass and failed by a wider-than-expected margin, falling eight votes short in a 24-38 decision by the state Senate. The Assembly had earlier approved the bill, and Gov. David Paterson, perhaps the bill's strongest advocate, had pledged to sign it.

After the vote, Paterson called Wednesday one of his saddest days in 20 years of public service and he criticized senators who he said support gay marriage but "didn't have the intestinal fortitude to vote for it.

Senate sponsor Thomas Duane, a Manhattan Democrat and the Legislature's first openly gay member, expressed anger and disappointment. "I wasn't expecting betrayal," he said.

 In response to the news, over 200 LGBT New Yorkers braved the cold and rain to express their outrage at a demonstration in Times Square.

NY Assembly Passes Marriage Equality Bill for 2nd Time

Towleroad reports this morning that the NY State assembly once again passed a same-sex bill, which now moves to the state senate for approval. The bill is sponsored by Assemblyman Danny O'Donnell (yes, Rosie's brother).

Late last night, the New York Assembly passed the marriage equality bill again (it was passed once before this year, in May), the Empire State Pride Agenda reports in a release:

"Just a few moments ago, the New York State Assembly passed marriage equality legislation for the second time this year in a bipartisan vote of 86 to 51. By taking a vote in what is called an 'extraordinary session,' the Assembly has removed any obstacle to the bill being sent to the Governor for his signature if the Senate votes on the bill when it reconvenes tomorrow to conduct business. 

The Pride Agenda gives special thanks to the New York State Assembly, under the leadership of Speaker Sheldon Silver, that has now voted and passed the marriage equality bill three times. Our thanks also to the legislation’s prime sponsor Assemblymember Danny O’Donnell for leading the successful effort again on the floor. It is anticipated that forces opposing marriage equality may be coming to Albany tomorrow to put pressure on the State Senate to take no action on the bill. We continue to expect the Senate to give this issue the respectful debate and vote it deserves."

NY Gov. Paterson Expects to sign Marriage Equality Bill in the Coming Weeks

This just in from Equality Across America:

"ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – New York Gov. David Paterson said Thursday that he expects to sign a same-sex marriage bill into law in the coming weeks.

Paterson said he expects the state Senate to give the measure final legislative approval in weeks ahead and then he will sign it, making New York the seventh state to legalize same-sex marriage. Paterson can’t force the Senate to take up the bill and admitted to reporters he can’t guarantee its approval, but he says he’s now confident it will pass, as advocates and sponsors of the bill in Albany have been quietly working to build support.

The bill was blocked by a summer coup in the Senate in the final days of the regular session in June. The Democrat-led Assembly has already passed the measure.

Paterson’s statements Thursday came at the fall dinner in Manhattan of the influential gay rights group Empire State Pride Agenda. He said New York will have marriage equality “as a result of a law we will pass in the New York Senate, already passed in the Assembly, and will be signed by the governor, just in the next few weeks.”

The 1,200 people at the dinner cheered Paterson’s remarks.

“No longer in New York” will same-sex couples have to worry about insurance coverage, being allowed to visit each other hospitals, or whether they will be guaranteed the same rights as other married couples under law, he said.

Paterson said he’s spoken to advocates lobbying senators and “they believe if I put the bill on the calendar, it will pass. … I believe it will pass.”

In the spring, advocates had sought to withdraw the bill from the Senate agenda when it appeared it would be defeated.

More than a year ago, Paterson had framed the debate as a civil right long denied. But divisions among Senate Democrats earlier this year made approval unlikely after a few Democrats in the 32-30 majority objected to the bill on religious grounds.

Now, however, Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos of Nassau County says GOP senators won’t be asked to vote against the measure in a bloc and are free to vote for the bill.

A leading advocate and bill sponsor, Sen. Thomas Duane of Manhattan, who is gay, has declined to comment on the issue this week. Senate Democratic majority spokesman Austin Shafran said there has been no head count of votes on the issue.

To the crowd, Paterson joked that if anyone in a same-sex relationship had put off conversations about marriage because it wasn’t legal, “you’d better leave now because marriage equality is coming to New York City.”

Same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont, and will start in New Hampshire in January. A referendum in Maine on Nov. 3 will determine the fate of a same-sex marriage bill passed by the Legislature in May.

Several other states offer civil unions, domestic partnerships or other arrangements that provide marriage-like rights to same-sex couples, including California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado and Wisconsin."

Taking it to the Streets: A Day of Marriage Rallies in NYC

With only six weeks left to the 2009 legislative session, the New York State same-sex marriage battle heats up. Opposing sides gathered in the Big Apple to express their views on marriage equality on Sunday.

Opponents gathered early in the day to protest Gov. David Paterson's legislation aimed at granting marriage to gay and lesbian couples. According to the New York Times,

The New York Hispanic Clergy Organization, led by Senator Rubén Díaz Sr., a Pentecostal minister, organized the event. In a speech delivered in Spanish, Mr. Díaz warned the governor that there would be political consequences for supporting same-sex marriage.“We’re here to say to the governor: Mr. Governor, look at the people that are here, these are the people who say we don’t believe in marriage between a man and a man and a woman and a woman,” Mr. Díaz said.

Later in the day, at a pro-marriage equality rally held at Rockefeller Center, Gov. Paterson and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg addressed the crowd with a sense of urgency as they called for supporters to urge their state legislators to back the measure and work together to get uncommitted state representatives on board.

“We’re in a race right now in New York,” the governor told a crowd of several hundred people who gathered along Avenue of the Americas. “The time for justice, the time for equality, the time for equal rights can never be any more urgent than right now.”

The Times also reports,

At a gathering of gay rights advocates in Rochester on Saturday night, Alan Van Capelle, executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, said he believed that there were some politicians who felt that voting for the bill would be the right thing to do, but that they would not, for fear of the political ramifications.

“Because they’re either lazy or complacent or cowards, they do not act. And history will never forget them. They will not be forgiven,” Mr. Van Capelle said.