GAY PEOPLE'S

Chronicle

Ohio's Newspaper for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

'I do': New York passes marriage

by Anthony Glassman

Albany-The New York senate on June 24 disproved the old adage that the third time is the charm, passing same-sex marriage legislation the fourth time the legislature's lower house sent it there.

The state assembly has passed similar legislation three earlier times, only to have it fail in the senate. This time, however, it was backed up with a lobbying push that made last year's support by then-Gov. David Paterson seem lukewarm.

Cuomo led months of meetings with lawmakers of both parties, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has given major financial support to many Republican members of the assembly and the senate, threatened to withhold future donations if lawmakers did not vote in favor of the legislation.

In the end, four Republicans voted in favor of the legislation late on Friday night: Stephen Saland, Mark Grisanti, Roy McDonald and James Alesi. The senate ended its 2011 session immediately after passing the bill.

Saland's yes vote was surprising, but Grisanti's was virtually a miracle, as he had pledged just a few weeks ago to vote against the measure. However, Cuomo's negotiations included adding protections for non-profit organizations affiliated with religious denominations, to prevent them from being required to perform same-sex marriages in their facilities.

Grisanti, in casting his vote, told the state senate that, despite being a devout Catholic and believing that marriage is between one man and one woman, as an attorney, he cannot find any legal justification for barring same-sex couples from enjoying the same rights and responsibilities he shares with his wife.

The final vote count was 33-29, and Cuomo signed it into law just before midnight. It will go into effect 30 days after his signature, which will be Sunday, July 24.

While the governor was being handed the bill for his signature, antigay groups were promising hellfire, damnation, the destruction of civilization and every possible attempt to overturn the law, which in New York will be a far more difficult prospect than it was in California.

New York does not currently allow petition-inspired initiatives and referenda, unlike many states, so

Maggie Gallagher and her National Organization for Marriage cannot fund a petition drive to put the measure on the ballot for a "people's veto," as was done in Maine two years ago. An initiative and referendum amendment was passed by the New York Senate on June 7, but did not go anywhere in the New York Assembly.

There is a non-severability clause in the marriage law which means that if any part of it is found unconstitutional, the entire bill will be voided. That was designed to deter suits against religious organizations, and the clause might not be enforceable, according to civil rights attorney Yetta Kurland, who spoke to David Badash of the New Civil Rights Movement blog.

Kurland pointed out that the best defense of the New York marriage law will be to push forward in other states, like Maryland, Maine, Oregon and Connecticut, where pro-marriage efforts stand a decent chance of success, leaving anti-marriage efforts off-balance and unclear on which battlefield to step into next.

The most immediate effect of the passage of the marriage law, however, was in jubilant crowds in front of the Stonewall Inn as the vote was announced. The euphoria was still being felt two days later in New York City, when the Pride parade and festival were packed with supporters, enough that it made a feature story on Monday's episode of The Daily Show with Jon wart.

"New York has finally torn down the barrier that has prevented samesex couples from exercising the freedom to marry and from receiving the fundamental protections that so many couples and families take for granted," Cuomo said as he signed the bill. "With the world watching, the legislature, by a bipartisan vote, has said that all New Yorkers are equal under the law. With this vote, marriage equality will become a reality in our state, delivering long overdue fairness and legal security to thousands of New Yorkers."

New York is now the sixth state with full same-sex marriage, plus the District of Columbia. The others are Iowa, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire. A seventh state, California, had full marriage for five months in 2008, before voters passed a ban amendment.

Volume 27, Issue 1 July 1, 2011

BRIAN DEWITT

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Legalize Gay

stia Chu cle

Legalize Gag

"Love Wins," declared signs held by the Old South United Church of Christ in Kirtland, as the Cleveland Pride parade approaches City Hall.

Cleveland Pride grows with a view toward 2014 Gay Games

by Anthony Glassman

Cleveland-An overcast sky held an empty threat of rain, but the sunny dispositions below it lit up Voinovich Park brighter than a sunny day would at the 23rd an-

nual Cleveland Pride festival.

The parade edged out last year's as the second-largest in its 22-year history, since there was no parade the first year of Cleveland Pride.

UNTY Grand

Marshal

Grand marshal Danny Sparks.

Inside This Issue

Columbus Pride honors alders

and the young

Beam hits a home run with TG coming-of-age story

Füge 6

BRIAN DEWITT

News Briefs

Charlie's Calendar Resource Directory... Classifieds........

The 2,533-person count brought it in behind the 3,022 in 2006, but above last year's 2,482 and far above the 1,710 in 2008.

Many more people joined for the festival at the end of the parade. About 16,000 people passed through the gates during the day, according to a count of the orange wristbands given to each.

A short program honored grand marshal Danny Sparks, who three years ago started fighting to remove abstinence-only sex education from the Parma school district in favor of more comprehensive, and realistic, information. He began that battle when he was 15 years old. He is going to Ohio State University in the fall.

"I don't enjoy the spotlight," he told the crowd. But, "is changing sex ed in Parma schools worth it? If not me, then who? If not now, then when?"

"We are united for a purpose. That is our unending desire for Continued on page 10

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