ALBANY, N.Y. — Just 14 months after the New York State Senate rejected a bill to legalize same sex marriage, Governor Andrew Cuomo is preparing to pursue another vote in the current legislative session.
Marriage-equality legislation has passed numerous times in the State Assembly, but has been repeatedly blocked in the State Senate. But Cuomo, who campaigned on a pro-marriage-equality platform, said he’ll be “working very hard to pass it.”
“I want to see it become the law of the state of New York and we’re going to take it up this session,” Cuomo said when asked about the issue following a budget presentation at Hofstra University earlier this week.
His pledge was greeted warmly by gay-rights activists, who have waited with some uncertainty to see whether Cuomo, faced with a daunting battle over the budget, would make a charged social issue like legalizing same-sex marriage a priority, according to The New York Times.
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Last month, State Senator Thomas Duane (D-Manhattan) said he’ll introduce new legislation to legalize same-sex marriage “within weeks,” and he and other supporters are hoping that Cuomo’s support will push the legislation through.
The measure faces an uncertain future, however.
Marriage equality legislation has repeatedly passed the State Assembly, which is dominated by Democrats. But in December 2009, when Democrats still controlled the Senate, the bill failed 38 to 24.
A new poll released last month reveals that 56 percent of Empire State voters now favor legalizing same-sex unions, up from the previous best of 51 percent in 2009, according to the Quinnipiac University survey.
