Another State Stands Up For Equality

Although the United States Constitution guarantees equality to all citizens of this country, that has never been a reality (and still isn't). The history of this country has been made up of many small steps toward achieving that goal, and last Friday another of those small steps was taken. On that day, the New York State Senate passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the state. The bill had already been passed by the State Assembly, and after the Senate approved it on a 33-29 vote the governor signed it into law.

This means that in 30 days New York will join a growing list of states that believe ALL American citizens should have equal rights.

I'm sure this will cause some right-wing fundamentalist heads to explode, but I've yet to hear any of them explain exactly how allowing same-sex couples to marry will harm the marriages of heterosexual couples in any way. The truth is that marriage will be strengthened, not harmed, by insuring all Americans have equal protections in that area. After all, a right that can be denied to one group can be denied to everyone.

I congratulate the politicians of the state of New York on their political courage. In spite of opposition from the haters, they stepped up and did the right thing.