OP-ED : My prediction for how history will judge the New York State politicians, who are blocking marriage equality :
''You should not be inbetween on equality,'' to quote Iana Equality Di Bona.
| THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 * | NEW YORK MARRIAGE EQUALITY ** |
| The bill came before the full Senate for debate on March 30, 1964 and the "Southern Bloc" of 18 southern Democratic Senators and one Republican Senator led by Richard Russell (D-GA) launched a filibuster to prevent its passage. Said Russell : "We will resist to the bitter end any measure or any movement which would have a tendency to bring about social equality and intermingling and amalgamation of the races in our (Southern) states." | The bill has yet to come before the full Senate for debate and already the notorious hate group National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has forged an alliance with Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. (D-Bronx), to prevent its passage. Diaz and NOM sponsored a hate rally in the Bronx on the same day as AIDS Walk New York. Said Diaz : "We're sending a message to the governor that the Hispanic community is against gay marriage." |
| The most fervent opposition to the bill came from Senator Strom Thurmond (D-SC) : "This so-called Civil Rights Proposals, which the President has sent to Capitol Hill for enactment into law, are unconstitutional, unnecessary, unwise and extend beyond the realm of reason. This is the worst civil-rights package ever presented to the Congress and is reminiscent of the Reconstruction proposals and actions of the radical Republican Congress." | The most fervent opposition to the bill came from Senator Martin Golden (R-Staten Island), who introduced a hostile "defense of marriage" bill that would declare same-sex marriages entered into outside of New York void under New York law : "I am sending the message that there is some normalcy in this great state when it comes to the principled idea that marriage is between a man and a woman." |
| Michael Rubens Bloomberg attended Johns Hopkins University, where he joined Phi Kappa Psi, and graduated in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in electrical engineering. | In 2005, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg appealed a landmark marriage equality ruling and has been providing financial support to right-wing Republican legislators, including Senator Golden. |
| Christine Quinn was not yet born when the Civil Rights Act was enacted. | In 2008, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn changed the term limits law to reward Mayor Bloomberg with a third term in office. |
| Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., was born in 1964. | Sen. Joe Addabbo (D-Queens) voted against marriage equality in 2009 and is sitting on the fence as to whether he will support or oppose the pending marriage equality bill. |
| Carl Kruger was a teenager when the Civil Rights Act was passed into law. | Sen. Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn) voted against marriage equality in 2009, even though Sen. Kruger has recently been outed as being gay. Yet, he still has the gall to yet say whether he will support marriage equality in 2011 for other LGBTQ New Yorkers. |
| President Lyndon B. Johnson, who wanted the bill passed as soon as possible, ensured that the bill would be quickly considered by the Senate. Normally, the bill would have been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator James O. Eastland, Democrat from Mississippi. Given Eastland's firm opposition, it seemed impossible that the bill would reach the Senate floor. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield took a novel approach to prevent the bill from being relegated to Judiciary Committee limbo. Having initially waived a second reading of the bill, which would have led to it being immediately referred to Judiciary, Mansfield gave the bill a second reading on February 26, 1964, and then proposed, in the absence of precedent for instances when a second reading did not immediately follow the first, that the bill bypass the Judiciary Committee and immediately be sent to the Senate floor for debate. | Governor Andrew Cuomo, who wanted the bill passed as soon as possible, has not yet ensured that the bill would be quickly considered by the Senate. Normally, the bill would have been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator John J. Bonacic, Republican from Mount Hope, New York. Given Bonacic's firm opposition to marriage equality, it would seem impossible that the bill would ever reach the Senate floor. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Long Island) has backed away from initially signaling that senators should "vote with their conscience" on the bill and has now, instead, threatened to not allow a vote on marriage equality. Thus far, excepting for intense lobbying and some major political demonstrations, the bill has not progressed within the state legislature after having been first introduced in the Assembly on May 10, 2011, by Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell. |
| Shirley Huntley participated in the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery. | Sen. Shirley Huntley (D-Queens) marched in Selma and didn't learn a thing. |
Key :
* Quoted entirely from Wikipedia, excepting for the references to Speaker Quinn's birth, Sen. Addabbo's birth, Sen. Kruger's age, and Sen. Huntley's march in Selma.
** Quoted from other sources over the Internet.
