The Great Civil Rights Battle of Our Time

Last night, the New York Senate passed Senate Bill 5857, better known as the “Marriage Equality Act,” legalizing gay marriage and giving gay couples the same legal rights as heterosexual couples. This, as our wonderful Vice President Joe Biden might say, is a big fucking deal. It shouldn't be, but it is nevertheless. By becoming the sixth state (plus Washington, DC) to legalize gay marriage, New York affirmed that all Americans should be equal, that progress is unstoppable and that Democrats, for the first time in decades, are starting to gain the upper hand when it comes to social issues.

Yes. Yes they do.

For those who haven't been following the story, a little background: the bill itself was introduced in the State Assembly by Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell earlier this month. With heavy pressure from Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, the bill passed 80-63 and moved to the Senate. After almost a week of arm-twisting by Democrats to get undecided Republicans to vote for the bill, it finally passed 33-29 after four Republican senators agreed to vote for the bill. An amendment granting religious groups an exemption so that they would not be forced to perform a same-sex marriage was passed before the final vote, sealing the deal for passage of the bill itself.

I said before that this shouldn't matter—it shouldn't matter because, in 2011, the fact that Americans are still arguing over whether or not “all men are created equal” actually means all men and women is absurd. The need for a gay rights movement to exist at all is a living testament to the fact that this country has so far left to go. The fundamental conservatism of the United States (and I mean conservatism in its traditional meaning: reluctance to change) is such that in a time where we have an African American president and a woman Secretary of State, we still find more bigotries to hold on to. This shouldn't matter because if we were as great a country as we like to believe, then this wouldn't be an issue.

Regardless, it does matter. As the head of the Human Rights Campaign, Fred Sainz, said last night: “New York sends the message that marriage equality across the country is a question of 'when,' not 'if.'” By becoming the largest and most diverse state in the country so far to legalize gay marriage—and legalize it through legislation, not through the courts—New York has shown that equality is not a fringe movement. This victory continues the momentum that has been building for over a year now, joining the legalization of gay marriage in Washington, DC and the ruling in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (the Proposition 8 case) by a U.S. District Court that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. Most observers realize that this case will end up in front of the Supreme Court one day; what many forget is that the swing vote on the bench, Justice Anthony Kennedy, has been a staunch supporter of gay rights in the past, equating the gay rights movement with the struggle for racial equality in the 1960s. Equality for all Americans is a question of “when,” not “if,” and New York was a major victory on that road.

Cuomo 2016. Book it right now.

Because this is a political blog, I do need to also point out the political consequences of this event. First and foremost, this is a sign that Democrats, for the first time in a long time, are beginning to win over voters on social issues. 51% of Americans now think that gay marriage should be legal, the first time that these voices have been in the majority. When you zoom in and look only at voters under the age of 50, that number goes up to 60%. There is a fundamental change going through the electorate regarding social issues, and that trend is biased in favor of the Democratic Party. Social issues and national security have long been the Achilles heels of Democrats; now, it appears, there may be hope for the future.

Additionally, last night's passage of the Marriage Equality Act all but declared that Governor Andrew Cuomo will run for president in 2016. Cuomo was able to navigate a controversial bill through a Republican-controlled state Senate, and in the process showed the kind of hands-on leadership that even President Obama has been sorely lacking. Factor in the importance of this issue to Democrats (and, increasingly, moderates) and you could even argue that Cuomo will not just run, but will be the frontrunner. I'm not sure that I would go so far as to call him the frontrunner, especially with rumors that Vice President Biden may run in 2016, but there is no doubt that Cuomo's star within the party is rising.

Last night's vote shouldn't have mattered, but it did—in a big way. There is a future within our grasp where everyone has equal rights as Americans, and Democrats are slowly putting themselves in a position to deliver that dream. We can start to win that future because courageous New York state legislators have showed us how, and so to them I say, “Thank you.”

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