New York Democrats Backtrack on Gay Marriage?

Gay rights groups, including the Human Rights Campaign and the Gill Foundation, poured tons of money into New York State politics this year, under the impression that New York State Democrats would move forward legislation legalizing same-sex marriage IF the Democrats regained control of the State Senate.  Fast-forward nearly a month after the 2008 Elections, and Democrats - who regained control of the Senate - are now backtracking.

Malcolm A. Smith, who is likely to become leader of the NY Senate, told an Empire State Pride Agenda fundraiser last year that "We're going to make sure [gay marriage] happens in '08, when we take over the majority."

But while the Democrats regained a majority in the 2008 Election, they only hold 32 of the Senate's 62 seats.  And at least three Democrats, most prominently State Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. of the Bronx (himself a pentecostal minister), have said that they will not support any Senate majority leader (like Smith) who plans to introduce gay marriage to the floor.

So where do things stand?  Well, it looks like the Democratic leadership is going to capitulate to anti-gay marriage proponents like Sen. Diaz and groups like the National Organization for Marriage.  This article in today's NY Times features quotes from several prominent Democrats who before Election 2008 were happy to take in money from LGBT rights proponents, but now are putting on the brakes when it comes to gay marriage.

Here's State Senator Liz Krueger, who represents a district on the Upper East Side: "We want to get there, but we want to get there the right way or else we risk setting ourselves back another decade.  I think the California proposition and the recognition that entities with large amounts of money who oppose same-sex marriage have decided to be large players in this have a lot of people going back to the drawing board."

Here's State Sen. Thomas Duane: "I can’t even imagine before the budget’s done that we would do anything."

Here's Risa Heller, Gov. David Paterson's Communications Director: "For now and the immediate future we are focused on the state’s fiscal situation."

And here's Sen. Malcolm Smith himself: "Rebuilding New York’s economy comes first. Beyond that, I will govern by the consensus of my conference and allow legislation from either party to be openly debated on the Senate floor."

So there you have it.  New York Democrats are showing their inability to learn any of the lessons from the last eight years of Rove politics.  They are letting one Senator (Diaz) set the debate on this issue, they are themselves capitulating that gay marriage is a "wedge" issue by approaching it with fear, and they are biting the hands that feed them by turning their back on LGBT groups that gave a ton of money to NY Democrats this year.

And it doesn't have to be this way.  A same-sex marriage bill passed the New York State Assembly last year, and you know what?  Every assembly person who supported it was re-elected.  Not one of them lost their Assembly seat.  Thus, you can take on this issue, and you can do it in a way that doesn't result in losses at the polls.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, state Senators don't have to act like gay marriage is less important than fixing the economy.  What bothers me most about the statement from Gov. Paterson's Communications Director up above is that she's basically saying that civil rights pale in comparison to the economy.  I'd like to see her justify that.

State Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell, an Assemblyman from the Upper West Side that led the debate on same-sex marriage in the Assembly, perhaps put it best: "Since when are fixing the economy and civil rights mutually exclusive?"

Exactly, Assmeblyman O'Donnell.  It's a shame that Democrats in the Senate can't seem to get past this fact.