James Alesi

ALBANY, N.Y. — Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has given a former Republican senator who was a key to the legalization of gay marriage a $90,000-a-year job in a move a religious conservative group called payback for the critical vote.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — New York State Sen. Mark Grisanti (R-Buffalo), one of the four Republicans who voted in favor of a marriage equality bill last year, and who has since been targeted by the anti-gay the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) because of that vote, won his GOP primary race Thursday.

The anti-gay National Organization for Marriage continues its sore loser campaign aimed at New York state lawmakers who supported the Marriage Equality Act that legalized same-sex marriage in the Empire state.

David Barton, founder of WallBuilders, the Texas-based group “dedicated to presenting America’s forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on the moral, religious, and constitutional foundation on which America was built,” is calling for the “scalps” of traitorous New York state senators who voted in favor of marriage equality.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has rewarded four Republican state senators who voted for the state’s Marriage Equality Act with significant campaign contributions.