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A Few Clouds Senate rejects marriage bill
Same-sex couples look for equal rights
“I think in this day and age we’re not asking for special laws,” said Malverne resident Robert Powers. “We’re asking for equal laws.”
Powers, who married his husband, Howard Costa, in a Connecticut ceremony last year, said he is disappointed with the New York state Senate, which rejected a bill on Dec. 2 that would have allowed same-sex couples to marry.
The bill had been approved by the state Assembly three times, including the same day it headed to the Senate, but was rejected 38-24 as several Democrats joined Republicans to vote against it.
“We had some hope that we had opened the minds of some of the legislators, who seemed like men of reason,” said Island Park resident Dorothy Jacobs, who married her wife, Carol Keating, in Canada five years ago.
Jacobs said she was disappointed in Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) whom she met with personally to try to persuade him to support the bill. Skelos was one of the eight Long Island senators who rejected it.
“He’s made it clear all along that he was personally opposed,” said Scott Reif, a spokesman for Skelos. “But he had said that members were free to vote their conscience on the issue, and that’s what happened.”
Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) and Brian Foley (D-Blue Point) voted for the bill. It was reported that Foley made his decision after hearing the personal statements made by individuals who supported the measure prior to the vote.
“I picked up the phone today and called Johnson and Foley,” Jacobs said. “I thought it was a courageous thing for [Foley] to do.”
Rockville Centre resident Jeff Friedman was one of the supporters who spoke before the Senate. Holding a sign with photos of his husband, Andrew Zwerin, and their adopted son, Josh, Friedman pleaded with the Senate to recognize his family.
“My disappointment came from the dysfunction with the New York state Senate,” said Friedman, who married Zwerin, his high school sweetheart, last year in California. “This vote and setback was political, and not about our families.”
