NY Governor to legislature: Pass marriage equality

Fourteen months after the last ill-fated attempt to pass marriage equality in New York state, the recently elected Governor Cuomo said Wednesday that he intends to ask the legislature to take up the issue during this session.

Cuomo campaigned on marriage equality promises, and has repeated said that he would sign a bill allowing same-sex marriage should it reach his desk. Now he is saying "we'll be working very hard to pass it."

Supporters weren't sure if the governor would truly want to take up a socially charged issue like marriage equality with the state budget in disarray.

From the New York Times: It is not immediately obvious how the legislation would fare markedly better this year, given that the composition of the Senate, which is now controlled by Republicans, has not changed significantly since the last vote.

But gay-rights advocates point to public-opinion polls that show more New Yorkers than ever support the legalization of same-sex marriage.

The issue has done well in past sessions of the state Assembly but has found more resistance in the state Senate. Republican Senate Majority leader Dean Skelos has said he won't block a vote on the issue, but says the legislature needs to focus on the economy right now.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday, Jan. 27 revealed that the majority of New York residents support legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

56 percent of those surveyed indicate that they support marriage equality; 37 percent do not.