NY State Joins SSM

Last night's huger than huge victory for marriage equality in New York was as portentous as sudden. Civil rights and LGBT groups throughout the country have seen the future and it is fair.

Clearly I need to absent myself from such moments more often. My wife and I went out to dinner and returned to have a little ice cream and read. I had followed live, online and print coverage of the NY legislature for nearly two weeks. I was sure the other issues would keep this vote either another day or two. There seemed to be a good to excellent likelihood that the majority GOP in the Senate would refuse to, as the anti-gay side is so wont to chant, let the people vote.

Instead, Sen. Majority Leader Dean Skelos let the same-sex-marriage bill come to the floor and told his members to vote their consciences. Those minds and hearts yielded a 33 to 29 victory for equality. The lower house had already approved the bill and Gov. Andrew Cuomo long ago pledged to sign it when passed.

I awoke this morning to the the provincial Boston Globe with a banner head and three quarters of the front filled with yet more overkill tales of an aged feeble local gangster in court. The real news with tucked in the lower right and jumped to the middle of the first section. The NY Times did it right and showed the gravity and joy of such a populous state going for SSM.

More later, but this is great stuff.