On behalf of the New York campaign to legalize gay marriage, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, accompanied by openly lesbian City Council speaker Christine C. Quinn, spoke to lawmakers in Albany Monday and asked for a clear path to allow same-sex couples to marry.
The Mayor explained to members of the state legislature that support for same-sex marriage is a moral imperative, and that upholding the cause lands senators on “the right side of history.”
Unfortunately, Bloomberg’s efforts, while laudable, may not have the desired effect.
The New York Times reports that Bloomberg has struggled repeatedly to gain influence and popularity with lawmakers in the state capital. After a singular victory early on in his mayoral career that won him control of the Albany school system, Bloomberg has met with one defeat after another when pit against the state’s legislature.
Now, in light of Bloomberg’s track record, some gay marriage advocates in New York wonder if the Mayor’s endorsement might not do more harm than good. Neither Republican nor Democratic contingents in the New York State Senate can be counted upon to back Bloomberg’s causes – and so far, it seems that the reaction to gay marriage advocacy in the legislature is ambivalent at best, with neither a commitment of support nor an outright rejection following the Mayor’s petition.
