New York – New York Gov. David Paterson says he expects to sign a same-sex marriage bill into law in the coming weeks.
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Paterson says he expects the state Senate to give the measure final legislative approval in the coming weeks and then he will sign it.
Paterson’s statements to the Empire State Pride Agenda fall dinner in Manhattan come as advocates and sponsors of the bill in Albany have been quietly working to build support. The bill was blocked by a coup in the Senate in the final days of the regular session in June.
The Democrat-led Assembly has already passed the measure.
Paterson says he will place the bill on the agenda for a special session in the weeks ahead.
What a shame. ! ! ! !
why not just say there is a civil union for everybody, with the rights of marriage. And for others who have a religious ceremony call it marriage.
No-one is being discriminated against.
my 2 cents
Finally!! Some very well deserved long awaited equality and justice!
It will probably pass, ore or less, at the time we will be laining Parashat Yayera, when Sedom and A’mora are destroyed for this very reason. This week, we read “Ki shichet kol basar et darko”. Boy, are in for tsuris !
Does anyone know how The Honorable Assemblyman Shelly Silver voted?
Why does the government legislate marriage? What’s it their business who gets married and to whom? I don’t think that when people get married they care that government recognizes them; they care about their rabbi, family, and friends.
In addition, whether the government acknowledges a relationship or not, it doesn’t change the behavior of people. Gay people are gay — they are not straight, and no amount of legislation or regulation will change that. They will still engage in gay relationships whether they be within the context of marriage or not.
Wishing something away by pretending it doesn’t exit, doesn’t make it better.
And spare me with the slippery slope argument. If someone wants to “marry” their dog they can. They may not be sanctioned by an official body, but there is nothing the person can’t do with his dog, that he would have been able to do given a marriage certificate. The reason people don’t marry their dogs is because they don’t want to.
So there is a simple solution to this problem: eliminate the governments role in marriage (and many other things while we are at it), and leave marital recognition and certification to the clergy as was the case for most of human history.
Our Rabbis talk about the role same-sex immorality played in bringing the mabul, the flood, you can’t change that even if you don’t like it. It is evil and dangerous.
Patterson and his wife both engaged in illicit relationships, so he is an immoral person, supporting other immorality. Shame on him and shame on NYS for tolerating it.
Its not about letting the married, it’s about granting them legal rights as married people. Those rights include: end of life decisions, inheritance, alimony, shared assets, and not testifying against each other.
With regards to everything but testifying, the current laws already allow for solutions: Wills, Healthcare proxies, prenuptials, etc – so there is no need to change the law.
Changing the law will only give legitimacy to this sodomite act. That said, as a free gov’t we shouldn’t be regulating what people do in the privacy of their homes.
most importantly, is there any way to stop “the inevitable” at this late stage? Is is still worth it to write to our local representatives??
We may not be able to stop people from being inappropriately married, but why should THE GOVERNMENT not only protect but reward them with benefits? Help! Once it becomes legal, the definition of marriage will have to change — not only in the dictionaries of the future, but in every public institution. Teachers, doctors, politicians, textbooks etc. will no longer be able to suggest that boys marrying girls is the norm, or to say in any public setting that the marriage of a male and female is preferred. I shudder to think of the repercussions for our next generation….