Does this tweet mean the senate GOP has come to an agreement on rent regulations and/or property tax language?
Are Democrats vetting the religious liberty language in a new SSM bill?
@NYSenDems Update: we're just beginning to receive drafts of legislation and will be conferencing on them at 4PM today. #NYSenate
Stay tuned.... and keep emailing!
Democrats are starting to accuse the GOP majority of "obstructing" democracy by preventing a vote.
But they continue to reject our call to let the people of New York decide this issue.
Who's really blocking a vote?
Frustration spilled over Friday as New York's legislative session dragged on without Senate Republicans calling a vote on a tensely watched bill to legalize gay marriage.
Republicans have yet to put the measure to a vote four days after the session was scheduled to end, emerging from daily closed door meetings without a consensus and charging that language protecting religious groups is not strong enough. Democrats and activists who support the measure are beginning to accuse Republicans of stalling. --Reuters
This Lower Hudson Valley reporter says they are discussing rent regulations and tuition increases, not ssm:
Senate Republicans are now into the sixth hour of a closed-door meeting to discuss the newly minted Affordable Housing Act—an all-encompassing bill to enact a property-tax cap, provide mandate relief and establish new rent-control laws for New York City and its suburbs.
Each day for the past two weeks or so have started the same way; Senate Republicans conference the major issues of the day while reporters stake out the meeting for comments and same-sex marriage protesters line the corridor between the conference room and the Senate chamber.
... Reporters, meanwhile, continue to stakeout the GOP meeting. Several senators said same-sex marriage hasn’t been discussed in the meeting so far, and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos has said repeatedly that his conference will decide whether to bring it to a formal vote after all other major legislative issues are complete.
Just an obstacle to Gay Marriage in the minds of the AP:
Legislators worked methodically Friday to clear away a raft of standard bills to make way for a pivotal gay marriage vote as advocates and Republicans who hold the key agreed on one thing: They don't want the much-anticipated decision to drag on much longer.
... Deputy Majority Leader Thomas Libous said the 32 Republican senators who hold the majority in that chamber could meet behind closed doors later Friday to decide whether to send the bill to the floor for a vote after they get through other bills.
Democrats have started criticizing Republicans for not voting on their issue:
Frustrations flared in the Capitol on Friday as Democratic lawmakers and gay rights advocates suggested that the Republicans in the State Senate were deliberately delaying a vote on whether to legalize same-sex marriage in New York.
It was a marked change of tone from proponents of gay marriage, and it seemed to indicate that their collaborative relationship with the Republicans, in whose hands the fate of the measure rests, had begun to fray. --NYTimes
Who is imposing their views on whom?
They [pro-SSM side] also claim to speak for the overwhelming majority of people, but they wouldn’t accept my invitation: perhaps to go to Staten Island and visit some backyard barbecues and sense what the people really believe.
And they also run scared about the idea of a referendum. So they will speak to us about an imposition of our views upon them, and this really seems to be a legislative imposition upon the will of the people. I mean, even their early predictions that this was going to be an easy overwhelming victory, and after weeks and weeks and weeks, they’re still tied, 31-31. -- NCRegister
The situation in New York is fluid and remains very urgent. I am asking for you to take action one more time, with targeted messages going to specific New York senators.
Shortly after yesterday's newsletter went out, the New York Senate adjourned for the evening at around 11pm ET. The Republicans are conferencing behind closed doors again today as they wrestle with the same-sex marriage bill.
Please take a moment to send targeted messages to the 28 senators who are publicly standing for marriage, the 3 GOP swing votes, and the 3 Democratic swing votes.
In just a few minutes, you'll be able to thank the 28 senators who have publicly announced that they will vote NO on the same-sex marriage bill, and at the same time remind them that if Governor Cuomo's same-sex marriage bill is bad for New York, there's no reason to even bring it to a floor vote.
Under Senate procedure, the majority party is responsible to decide which bills are voted on and ultimately passed. Even President Obama opposes same-sex marriage, at least in word. Help the Republicans see that if same-sex marriage comes to New York, they are the ones who will bear responsibility – and have to answer to a Republican base that strongly opposes gay marriage.
Specific messages will also be sent to the handful of swing votes that will shape the outcome of the bill if it does come to a vote in the full Senate. If you have the time, take a moment to personalize these messages to communicate your personal concern over the outcome of this bill.
Click here to send your message now!
Back to the fight! We'll keep you posted.
New York law states that, unless it's an emergency, the text of any bill should be provided 72 hours in advance of the vote, to allow the language to be reviewed by the public.
NY Sen Greg Ball (who is voting NO, by the way) has said "the final text is public" ... but the text of the SSM bill is NOT available.
Why not? Isn't the public entitled to know?
LifeSiteNews reports:
A former top sports anchor who revealed to LifeSiteNews Wednesday that he is filing a human rights complaint against Rogers Communications, after the company fired him for publicly backing true marriage, says his termination over his deeply-held religious beliefs affects all Canadians.
“My message to the millions of Canadians participating in social media is that ‘this can happen to you’,” said Damian Goddard Thursday in an official statement. “I was terminated 24 hours after expressing a widely-held opinion from my personal Twitter account - an opinion consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church. And an opinion that is supposed to be protected by Canada’s constitution.”
... Goddard’s lawyer, William Gale, said his “sudden and very public termination” is “a clear violation of Damian’s freedom of speech and his freedom of religion - two fundamental rights that are supposed to be afforded to every Canadian.”
The AP with the update:
New York's Republican Senate again failed to take up Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's bill to legalize gay marriage after another marathon session Thursday and protests by hundreds of demonstrators.
... Thursday, Senate leader Dean Skelos abruptly ended the session just before 11 p.m. for the "health of the members," who were awaiting the printing of bills not expected until after 4 a.m.
When lawmakers return Friday, they still face several other bills before they can consider making New York the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage.
The end is in sight - let's keep the pressure up for one more day!
CitizenLink reports:
On the eve of a contentious same-sex marriage vote in the New York state Senate, the online world has turned into a virtual battlefield. Archbishop Timothy Dolan and state Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos are just two of the high-profile marriage defenders who have had to block comments on their website, and Facebook and Twitter accounts.
CitizenLink reports:
A “who’s who” of Leftist, humanist, abortion and gay organizations submitted a stern letter to President Obama on Tuesday, demanding that he rescind part of the 2002 Executive Order protecting religious hiring rights.
More specifically, the coalition wants Obama to prohibit contractors who do business with the government from using religious-based hiring criteria.
... The timing of the letter also coincides with the federal government’s stepped-up efforts to codify into law special protections for gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender people.
Breaking from NY1:
State Senator Greg Ball said tonight that he will vote "no" on the same-sex marriage bill...
This move brings the overall tally to 31 in favor, 29 opposed and two undecided.
Dear Marriage Supporter,
D-day in New York. I can't believe I'm saying that again.
I told you last week it was crunch time in New York. But instead of conferencing and quickly voting for gay marriage last Wednesday, New York State Senate Republicans huddled together last Wednesday, Thursday, Friday—with no announcement of their game plan.
On Monday, the GOP conferenced again with no result. On Wednesday they met until close to midnight—no anouncement. As I write, they are conferencing again. Clearly the GOP is struggling with whether to do the right thing and kill the bill.
The decision for the Republicans is whether to permit a vote on the bill. Most of the NY GOP will vote against this bill. But Sen. Dean Skelos, the majority leader, has punted to his conference the question of whether to permit a vote.
Why has the gay marriage bill stalled for days in New York?
The Christian Science Monitor asked the question and answered it this way: deadlock...
New York's gay marriage law remains stuck in the Republican-controlled state Senate, where legislators are considering the law's potential impact on religious groups - and, some analysts say, their own political fortunes.
Sen. Greg Ball has insisted individuals and small businesses must be protected from the threat of litigation if they refuse to participate in gay unions. The gay legal community is strongly objecting, according to CSM:
If the marriage law expanded the exemptions to include individuals or businesses, the law would be seriously weakened, says Susan Sommer, director of constitutional litigation for Lambda Legal, which supports same-sex marriage.
"This would be a rollback on civil rights, setting us back decades," she says.
Meanwhile Republicans are dealing with a political quagmire. Regardless of how they vote individually, if gay marriage comes to New York, it will be the Republican Party that brings it. That headline is going to reverberate across the nation—and within New York.
Sen. Rev. Ruben Diaz and Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long published an essay in National Review Online that makes that point:
Politics is a team sport. The decision of senate Republicans to take up this bill, and thus help enable Governor Cuomo's goal to pass gay marriage, will affect the way voters across the state view the Republican party....
The last time the Republican party caved on a deeply important social issue - abortion - it destroyed the party's prospects for years. And for what? To help Andrew Cuomo run for president?
Then these two New York leaders quoted me!
As Brian Brown, president of NOM, quipped: "Selling your principles in order to get elected is wrong, selling your principles to help get the other guy get elected is just plain dumb."
Together you and I have watched how Democratic leaders respond to the concerns of their base on this issue. In state after state, they have refused to bring up and permit votes on marriage amendments that the majority in the legislature and in the state clearly support: In Iowa and West Virginia and North Carolina and elsewhere.
And we've seen in states like Wisconsin how far some Dems will go when they are in the minority to prevent votes on bills that displease the Democratic base.
The GOP base is not asking anyone to flee the state to prevent a vote—in this case the New York Republicans don't have to do that much.
As Diaz and Long wrote all they have to do is, "Kill this bill, and let the people of New York decide the future of marriage." Click here to send your own message to every member of the GOP caucus. Urge them to stand firm and support the right of all New Yorkers to vote on marriage.
A few hours may decide the fate of marriage in New York. The promised religious liberty protections are frankly unknown. No-one is sharing any language. It will not be seriously crafted and vetted by the many distinguished religious liberty experts who have written to the legislature to express their concerns (Harvard, Princeton, Stanford professors!). It will most likely be for show.
And the consequences of gay marriage for religious liberty have never been made clearer: a Washington Post columnist actually called on Democrats in New York to reject protections under the headline "Don't Cater to Bigots."
Over at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in a little noticed story this week, Tom Vilsack (one of the Dems in Iowa who blocked a marriage amendment permitting the people to decide) is now presiding over a government training program that teaches that support for marriage is "heterosexism"—and he wants the Obama administration to spread this training program to every part of the government! Hard to believe but it's true, according to the Washington Times:
USDA officials have asked the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which oversees all federal employee policies, to impose its gay-awareness programs on all federal departments, according to an internal newsletter. The training includes a discussion of "heterosexism" and compares it to racism. It says people who view marriage as being between only one man and one woman are guilty of "heterosexism."
There is no shortage of evidence now that this is the prototype of what gay marriage is about and will bring—using the government to retrain everyone to understand Genesis's vision of marriage is bigotry.
This is why we need to act now—kill the bill and let the people of New York vote. Please help us spread the word. Now is the time to act!
| Stephen Saland | (518) 455-2411 |
| Andrew Lanza | (518) 455-3215 |
| Mark Grisanti | (518) 455-3240 |
| Greg Ball | (518) 455-3111 |
| John Flanagan | (518) 455-2071 |
| Joseph Addabbo | (518) 455-2322 |
| Shirley Huntley | (518) 455-3531 |
And if you have trouble getting through on the direct lines, call the Capitol Switchboard at (518) 455-2800 and ask for these 7 senators by name.
Thank you to the tens of thousands who have responded to our call to action. I am so proud to be able to serve you and as your voice for marriage to the powers that be.
NOM's week in the halls of power in Albany started on Monday with David Tyree, the New York Giant who broke through the media blackout on our side, by speaking up for marriage. Rev. Jason McGuire and New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedom delivered 63,000 petitions against same-sex marriage, and Bishop Joe Mattera of City Action Coalition International hosted a press conference, at which he kindly invited me and Maggie—and David Tyree—to speak.
We brought cameras along so you could be there too:
(For you real political junkies, here's a link to the whole press conference and rally.)
David Tyree has encouraged so many ordinary people—especially young men and boys—who feel sometimes alone in this fight. But he has also drawn a lot of fire. When Maggie met with him last week, she told me she warned him that would happen. He was totally unfazed. "I want to identify myself totally with the Lord Jesus in every way," he said.
And that comes through in every interview with him, even in the secular media: He's come across as the kind, brave, compassionate, strong black husband and father who is totally grounded, not in things of this world.
God bless him, and we thank him, for stepping forward.
Notice how the mainstream media treats him. Here's a sample from The View:
Here's the first thing to notice about this exchange: The View does not play a single clip from David Tyree in his own voice so the viewers can see for themselves what he said. Instead Whoopi Goldberg just mischaracterizes David's words, and then attacks the straw man she just enunciated. This is bad journalism. I wouldn't criticize Whoopi's criticism so much —everyone's got an opinion—if she had just let David speak his piece first, so viewers could make their own judgments and would know what he actually thinks!
Kudos to Elizabeth Hasselbeck for defending David Tyree's right to speak (she herself supports gay marriage), but shame on The View for such a biased piece of journalism that refuses to let David's own powerful voice for marriage be heard by their viewers.
Oh well, no big deal, par for the course for the MSM on this issue.
Knowing how close the vote in new York is likely to be, and hearing the media repeat the lie that a "supermajority" of New Yorkers now support gay marriage, NOM swung into action. We sent a reputable pollster into the field this weekend and emerged with good news: In NOM's poll, 57 percent of New York voters oppose same-sex marriage, and just 1 in 4 prefer the legislature to settle the issue without a vote of the people.
Meanwhile, a new Public Opinion Strategies poll, commissioned by the Alliance Defense Fund has similar good news: 62 percent of Americans say marriage should ONLY be defined as one man and one woman. Maggie attended a briefing by the polling experts and came back with this word:
Polls are now becoming highly sensitive to how the question is asked and what other questions are asked around that marriage question. What's amazing given the virtual media blackout on putting pro-marriage spokespeople on television, is the powerful resistance and good sense demonstrated by most Americans. Gay marriage is not a civil right. Marriage is just different from other issues.
Mothers and fathers matter for children, and marriage has something to do with transmitting the whole society across the generations.
This is what Americans really think, and why the campaign to pass gay marriage now hinges on vilification, marginalization, of the majority. We must not let the campaign to silence common sense succeed.
Let me end, in the midst of this grave struggle in New York, on this happy warrior note.
Here's David Tyree, one last time, explaining why he would trade his Super Bowl ring, for the bigger prize of protecting marriage:
The NY Daily News on Tyree's outstanding commitment to marriage:
Giants 2007 Super Bowl hero David Tyree said he'd trade "The Catch" and the team's championship to keep marriage between one man and one woman.
"The catch was a gift, it's not like I'd try to do it. I couldn't do it again so that was a miracle," he said. "There's nothing worth more than [protecting marriage] right here for me."
Asked if he'd give up the Super Bowl to stop gay marriage, Tyree said: "Honestly, I probably would."
"Nothing means more to me than that my God would be honored," he said. "Being the fact that I firmly believe that God created and ordained marriage between a man and a woman, I believe that that's something that should be fought for at all costs."
"So I'll lay down everything I am to preserve the honor and integrity of the God that I serve."
God bless each and every one of you that shares that commitment. It is an honor to serve you and this great cause that I treasure in my heart.
Back to the fight!
Yours truly,
Brian S. Brown
President
National Organization for Marriage
P.S.: Our coffers are being drained bare by these urgent fights in deep blue states. Can you help us today with a gift of $35, $50 or even $500 or more if you are able? Together, by God's grace, we are changing the course of history!
Dear Marriage Supporter,
This evening the Republican Caucus in the state Senate will meet to debate whether to bring the same-sex marriage bill to the floor for a vote. UPDATE: the Senate will reconvene tomorrow (Friday) to decide this question.
Included in the mix are religious liberty amendments which no one has yet seen, much less had the chance to be vetted by leading religious liberty experts.
Please take a moment to urge the Republican members of the NY Senate to kill the same-sex marriage bill. There's no reason they should sacrifice their principles in order to hand Governor Cuomo a political victory. Republicans have plenty to lose – and nothing to gain – by caving to Governor Cuomo at the 11th hour.
Tell the Republicans to stand firm, kill the bill, and the let the people of New York decide the future of marriage.
I hope you'll click on that link and send your message right away. The caucus meeting will begin in just a few hours – your email may be the one that gives these Republican senators the support that they need to stand firm. UPDATE: please continue to contact your Senators through the night and Friday morning!
Then tell your friends!
