NY and tying the same-sex knot

SO!

It's been a while. The past two weeks were pretty stressful at work for some reason, and I got really burnt out on writing. Anything. But we're experiencing some downtime during copyediting, so what better time to get back in the game, eh?

So in the past two weeks, two more states legalized gay marriage. Iowa's Supreme Court ruled the ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, while Vermont's Legislature (I find this very badass)overrode a veto from the guvnuh to legalize it. I enjoy when Democracy manifests itself......even if it's still being voted on by the powerplayers in state legislatures, it's something.

In order to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, the Legislature would have to pass the bill in both the Assembly and the Senate, then Guvnuh Paterson would have to sign off on it. It passed in the Assembly in June 2007 by a long shot, and Paterson had said time and time again he's all for gaybee rights. He even said this past week he was going to introduce the legislation to the Senate this session However, there's not enough votes to pass the measure in the Senate right now, or so says the Senate's leader, Malcolm Smith. Introducing it right now would be driving it over a cliff in flames.

But because politicians are slimy, it's not clear whether ol' Malcom is saying that because he actually doesn't want to see the measure voted down or because he has too much riding on his position to be the Majority Leader who let gay marriage pass. I tend to believe that he actually doesn't want to send it to a sure death, because he wouldn't be alone in supporting gay marriage; Paterson does, Sheldon Silver does, Schumer and Gillibrand do, along with a sleu of other government VIPs.

Am I hopeful New York will pass the marriage equality act this sesh? Yes and no. For one, you always gotta have hope--if IOWA can do it, we can. Secondly, if the legislators see their leaders on the boat, they might jump on too. (I dont think thats even a saying but you get my drift.) BUT, as I've come to see, Albany is BALLS dysfunctional, and it's really hard to get legislation passed that actually benefits people in need of help. We shall see.

In other news, it's friday, my 22nd birthday and I just got paid. HOLLA.