New York says 'yes' to gay marriage

With a vote in the Senate of 33-29, New York became the sixth state in the nation to allow same-sex marriage — but the nine senators from Long Island, all Republican, voted against the bill, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law shortly before midnight on June 24.

“New York has finally torn down the barrier that has prevented same-sex couples from exercising the freedom to marry and from receiving the fundamental protections that so many couples and families take for granted,” Cuomo said. “With the world watching, the Legislature, by a bipartisan vote, has said that all New Yorkers are equal under the law. With this vote, marriage equality will become a reality in our state, delivering long-overdue fairness and legal security to thousands of New Yorkers.”

The Empire State joins Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia in allowing gay couples to legally wed. The Marriage Equality Act grants same-sex couples hundreds of rights, benefits and protections that until now have been limited to traditional married couples.

“I was there for the past two weeks up in Albany, and I went up there every week from Monday though Thursday when they were in session,” said Rockville Centre resident Jeff Friedman, president of Marriage Equality New York, a political action committee. Friedman married his high school sweetheart, Andrew Zwerin, in 2008 in California. The couple has a son, Josh, who will be 8 in August.

“So this was a lot of hard work,” Friedman said. “But the victory was really, really sweet. Finally, after the 26 years that Andy and I have been together, New York State has finally recognized our love and commitment and put our family on equal terms with other families.”