I don't heart New York

This afternoon, the New York Senate voted down marriage equality by a vote of 38-24.  All 30 Republicans voted no along with six democrats, one of whom equated supporting same-sex marriage as "treason."  The New York State Assembly had already passed the measure by a wide margin.  Governor Paterson vowed to sign the bill.  So it was close.  This is the first time the Senate has even agreed to vote on the matter; the Assembly has voted for the measure three different times in three different years, each time by a wider and wider margin.

What was most frustrating about the vote is that despite the margin, we almost won.  We should have won.  A bunch of senators were willing to vote yes if the measure was going to pass.  A Democrat switched his vote to no at the last minute, and a domino effect followed.  Hmmm. How courageous.  Such profiles in courage.

The debate was emotional.  Thanks to Toweleroad for quotes from  the proceedings.  Among the more powerful:

Some people think it's a hard vote. Why is it not hard for me? Because I'm a woman. And a Jew. And I know about discrimination. I don't understand how anyone can vote no.

If this vote were taken in my district today, same-sex marriage would fail...As it relates to today, undecided senators - let's write this headline for my 10th grandchild whose sonogram was sent to me yesterday - let's send a message of hope. Let's set forth a drumbeat of equal rights for all and let's not continue to be scared into ignorance. 

You cannot legislate morality, but you can legislate justice.

There is enough to be annoyed about the vote, but a few things stand out.  Apparently, some Republicans were ready to get on board if it looked like marriage equality would win.  After the vote, the Log Cabin Republicans -- a group of gay Republicans -- released this statement:

Today we share in the frustration and disappointment that the Senate did not pass the marriage equality bill. We are deeply saddened that the Democratic Conference failed to secure the votes they promised, undermining the possibility of a credible bipartisan vote of conscience on the merits of marriage equality.

Winning marriage equality in New York requires the Democrats to keep their promises, and Log Cabin will continue to work to ensure that Republicans vote their conscience when that finally happens.

There is so much wrong with this statement that it's hard to know where to start.  The press release seems to be saying, Gay Dems -- you need to get every single vote for marriage equality and THEN we'll help you out by bringing on a few Republicans once it's safe. Guess what, Log Cabin Folks?  It's not called voting your conscience when you do it only when it's convenient.

So onward we go.  I try not to vent to much on this blog, but every once in a while, vent I must.