By ARUN KRISTIAN DAS
MyFox New York
MYFOXNY.COM – Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Marriage Equality Act into law at 11:55 p.m. Friday, making New York the sixth state in the union to allow same-sex couples to marry. The law takes effect in 30 days.
After days of public and private debate and negotiations, the state Senate passed the legislation in a 33-29 vote at about 10:30 p.m. Friday.
In a sign of the legislation’s symbolic and well as actual importance, Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy presided over the Senate as lawmakers debated the amendment and the full bill on the floor of the chamber at the state Capitol in Albany.
Earlier Friday, legislative leaders had hashed out revised language in legislation before agreeing to put the bill to a vote.
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The bill’s passage appeared assured when Sen. Stephen Saland, a Republican from Poughkeepsie, who had been undecided, said he would vote for the bill because he was confident added exemptions would protect churches and other religious groups.
“I know my vote is a vote of conscience, and I am certainly at peace with my vote,” Saland said.
Then another previously undecided Republican, Mark Grisanti from Buffalo, said that as a lawyer he did extensive research on the matter and couldn’t justify denying gay couples the same rights he and his wife enjoy.
“I apologize to those I offend,” said Gristanti, a Roman Catholic. “But I believe you can be wiser today than yesterday. I believe this state needs to provide equal rights and protections for all its residents.”
The impending passage of the bill brought Sen. Thomas Duane, an openly gay Democrat from Manhattan, to tears.
“Marriage strengthens families, and it’s going to strengthen all New York families,” he said.
Governor Cuomo, a Democrat, lobbied hard for the bill.
“New York has finally torn down the barrier that has prevented same-sex couples from exercising the freedom to marry and from receiving the fundamental protections that so many couples and families take for granted,” Cuomo said in a statement. “With the world watching, the Legislature, by a bipartisan vote, has said that all New Yorkers are equal under the law. With this vote, marriage equality will become a reality in our state, delivering long overdue fairness and legal security to thousands of New Yorkers.”
But the Catholic Church in New York swiftly condemned the passage of the legislation. In a statement signed by New York’s eight bishops, led by Archbishiop Timothy Dolan, the clergy said they were “deeply disappointed and troubled.”
“We strongly uphold the Catholic Church’s clear teaching that we always treat our homosexual brothers and sisters with respect, dignity and love,” Dolan and the bishops said in the statement. “But we just as strongly affirm that marriage is the joining of one man and one woman in a lifelong, loving union that is open to children, ordered for the good of those children and the spouses themselves. This definition cannot change, though we realize that our beliefs about the nature of marriage will continue to be ridiculed, and that some will even now attempt to enact government sanctions against churches and religious organizations that preach these timeless truths.”
New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is openly gay and has been lobbying for the bill’s passage, reveled in the development.
“When I was a little girl I dreamed I would one day get married, I never imagined that it would take tonight’s Senate action to make that dream come true,” Quinn said in a statement. “Tonight’s historic Senate vote is a great moment for all New Yorkers. New York State’s recognition of marriage equality for same sex couples is an extraordinary step towards full equality for LGBT people. Tonight’s sweet victory in Albany will be felt all across America. At long last, the change we have fought for will be seen in the lives of families throughout our great state, including my own.”
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is a strong supporter of the rights of same-sex couples to marry, had met with several GOP lawmakers in recent weeks and urged them to pass the bill. Bloomberg, an independent, has contributed campaign funds to several Republicans over the years.
“Today’s passage in the New York State Senate of legislation recognizing the right of couples to marry regardless of their gender is a historic triumph for equality and freedom,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement. “New York has always been a leader in movements to extend freedom and equality to people who had been denied full membership in the American family. By welcoming all people — no matter where they are from, what faith or philosophy they follow, or whom they love — New York became the strongest, most dynamic city in the world. And today, we are even stronger than we were yesterday.”
New York, the nation’s third-most populous state, joins Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, D.C., in allowing same-sex couples to wed.