The State Senate will be meeting today in New York to vote on whether gay marriage will be legalized. The vote has already passed in the state assembly, but it might have a more difficult time doing so in the Senate, where the Democrats are in the minority.  Same sex marriages have been getting a large amount of press recently because of states that have recently had votes or plan to have them in the future. Last Tuesday, voters in Maine dealt a huge blow to the gay rights movement by voting to repeal a law allowing gay marriages. This came as a shock to many since there has been a trend of New England states voting in favor of the right to marry, and Maine has tended to be a very liberal state in general. So far there have been five states to legally allow same sex marriages, and four of them have been New England states. These states include Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire. The only state outside of New England to allow marriages among members of the gay community so far is the state of Iowa.

This vote in the New York senate is going to be an incredibly important one. Many activists believe that the movement has been losing steam, and morale seems to have taken a hit since the devastating decision that came from Maine. There is a good possibility that this vote will have a substantial effect on the same sex marriage debate in New Jersey as well. While running for reelection, Governor Jon Corzine made a promise to citizens that he would push for a gay marriage vote if he served another term and that he would sign a bill that came to his desk. Corzine lost the election last week and will be leaving office in mid-January, making way for Republican Chris Christie. Gay activists believe that there is a necessity to call for a vote on same sex marriage before Christie actually takes office, so that Corzine has a chance to sign the bill before making his way out the door.

Many believe that the gay marriage will have some force pushing for legalization because New York City council speaker Christine Quinn. On Monday, Quinn made an impassioned call for the Senate to ’stand up’ for the rights of all New York families. Quinn is a gay woman herself, and is actually the first homosexual to ever lead the New York City council. She and her partner have made a vow that they will not get married until they have the opportunity to do so in their state of New York. Her call for gay marriage on Monday was made during a press conference on the steps of City Hall. There were several times where Quinn was on the verge of tears, but held them back so that she could field questions from the press.
It is obvious that many people are very passionate about this issue, and even though there have been 31 states to vote against gay marriage already, every vote for gay rights and same sex marriage is a step forward for the movement. If the New York and New Jersey votes result in a legalization of marriage for the gay community, we may be seeing future votes going in a different direction. It will be interesting to see which direction this will go, to say the least.

For information on how to take action, you can visit the following websites: www.freedomtomarry.org, http://www.equalityfederation.org/, www.prideagenda.org , and www.nyagra.com.