By Peter J. Smith
ALBANY, October 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Gov. David Paterson has announced he wants the New York State Senate to vote on a same-sex “marriage” bill within the next several weeks during a special session of the legislature convened to address New York's budget deficit. However pro-family advocates see the governor's attempt as a ploy to rescue his political standing with the homosexual lobby and mitigate the political consequences legislators would have to pay in 2010 for passing same-sex “marriage.”
The governor told reporters Wednesday that the special session of the legislature would first of all tackle the state's three billion dollar budget deficit, but also address leftover legislation from the summer, such as the same-sex “marriage” bill, which was derailed when two Democratic defections to the GOP threw the leadership of the Senate into confusion and all proceedings ground to a halt. (see coverage )
Paterson is seeking to make New York the seventh US state to legalize same-sex “marriage” and he may see its passage as key to his continued political existence, which seems all but extinct. A new Quinnipiac survey released Monday showed that NY voters would chose Attorney General Andrew Cuomo over Paterson by a margin of 3 to 1, and even black voters 2 to 1 favor Cuomo over Paterson, who is the state's first African-American governor.
Paterson's potential primary fight with Cuomo could then depend upon him earning the support of well-funded homosexual advocacy groups and individuals.
However a fellow Democrat who is leading the pro-marriage opposition and mobilizing resistance against the same-sex “marriage” bill in the Senate stands in Paterson's way, even as the bill's proponents attempt to build a coalition of 32 votes necessary to pass it.
Unmatched in the state Senate for his outspokenness and determination to defend the definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman, Sen. Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx) has vowed to do whatever it takes to prevent the bill to legalize same-sex “marriage” from becoming law or getting to the floor of the Senate this year.
“I have been, I am, and I will be one of the strongest opponents of this bill,” Diaz told LifeSiteNews.com in a telephone interview.
“The governor is desperate” said Diaz, adding that passage of the bill was critical to Paterson, “because he wants to be sure he has got their support.”
“He is desperately trying to do it this year, because next year, we are all going for re-election: the governor is going for re-election, every state senator is going for re-election.”
“I can assure you, that the gay community will say goodbye to anything that has to do with gay 'marriage' next year,” continued Diaz, explaining that that proponents of the bill will not bring the bill up next year in order to avoid making it an election issue and getting a political backlash from voters come election day. “Whatever they want to do, they want to be sure to do it this year.”
During the summer Diaz showed tremendous energy in mobilizing support against same-sex “marriage”: organizing a rally of over 20,000 Hispanic evangelicals in support of true marriage and making it clear time and again to party leaders that the defense of marriage outweighed his own political career.
Diaz is confident that he has enough votes to defeat the bill if it came to a vote on the Senate floor, even though GOP Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Long Island) has made solidifying a coalition more difficult. Skelos has indicated Senate Republicans will not vote as a bloc, but will be encouraged to vote their consciences instead, making it easier for homosexual activists to influence individual Republicans to support the bill.
“I'm going to do what I have always been doing: oppose the bill, speak against the bill, stand against the bill, and try to get as many votes possible to defeat the bill,” Diaz said.
Diaz wants above all to make sure that the bill does not get an opportunity to come to a vote in the Senate “this year.” Instead, the Bronx senator told LSN, he would “not oppose” the bill coming to the floor of the Senate for a vote in 2010, when lawmakers have elections and the consequences of their votes on their minds.
But for that very reason, as Diaz quickly reminded, “By next year, they won't touch it.”
See related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:
NY Appellate Court Slams Pro-Gay-'Marriage' Gov. for “Unconstitutional” Move to End Senate Stalemate
Total Breakdown in NY Senate Stalls Homosexual “Marriage” and Abortion Resolution
Fight Erupts Over Backroom Dealing and “Mind Game” in New York Same-Sex “Marriage” Bill