About Bloody Time

New York State has a proud history of civil rights legislation, but it has fallen badly behind in equal marriage rights.

That may be about to change.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has introduced a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.

Marriage-equality legislation has passed numerous times in the State Assembly, but has been repeatedly blocked in the State Senate. In December 2009, when Democrats still controlled the Senate, the bill failed 38 to 24.

Hoping to avoid a repeat of 2009, Cuomo has repeatedly said he would not introduce a bill until enough “yes” votes are secured.

Assured of support in the Democrat-controlled Assembly, the Marriage Equality Act needs 32 votes in the 62-seat Senate to pass.

At this hour, 31 senators have promised support, and six remain undecided.

But the New York Post reported on Monday that privately, Cuomo has the votes needed, and that “far more of the [GOP] members are in play than anyone realizes, including some surprising names from conservative upstate areas.”

This should be interesting. Maybe even ReThuglicans are waking up to the fact that younger Merkins are cool with gay people and don't see any reason to discriminate against them.

Expect ReThuglican caterwauling if this passes.