Renewed fight for gay marriage in NY hits suburbs

Five U.S. states New Hampshire,Vermont,Connecticut,Iowa and Massachusetts and the District of Columbia have approved gay marriage laws. New York has always been a goal of advocates because of its size,high-profile,and unparalleled media presence.

”A win in New York will provide significant momentum for the movement nationally and,quite frankly,internationally,” said Brian Ellner of the Human Rights Campaign,working for same-sex marriage. ”New York is very significant.”

The organized effort under Cuomo is a turnaround from the surprising 2009 defeat in the state Senate,which fell eight votes short of passage in the 62-seat chamber after strong approval in the Assembly. Back then,advocacy groups operated more independently,sometimes alienating as many lawmakers and their constituents as they won over.

But those votes were just a prologue to today,said Bruce Gyory,a political science professor at the University at Albany who analyzes voter trends.

Despite failing in 2009,the debate demonstrated some of the Legislature’s greatest displays of eloquence personal stories of sons and daughters denied the joys and rights of marriage and did what is rare in Albany: It changed votes.

”In my view,that wasn’t an isolated phenomenon,” Gyory said. ”That debate has been replicated hundreds and thousands of times over the Internet,emails and coffee and over glasses of wine in New York’s suburbs that has rapidly changed at an accelerated pace public opinion.”

Advocates for gay marriage learned the power of personal persuasion over in-your-face parades long ago. Fred and Heidi Perkins held a letter-writing open house at their Plainview home in Nassau County,a key area for the issue and where their gay son wants to be married. They said 70 neighbors showed up.

”My son getting married isn’t really affecting anyone else’s marriage,” said Heidi Perkins,50,a market researcher. ”It’s sad.”

”We want to dance at our son’s wedding,” said Iris Blumenthal,68,of Syosset,Nassau County,and another longtime advocate. ”I would love if these senators were in my shoes. What if their child came out as gay and said they wanted to get married?”

A year ago,Gyory’s analysis showed support for gay marriage was rising 1 to 2 percent a year nationally,as opposition declined by the same amount. But,he said,national polls now show support climbing at 2 to 4 percent a year,led by coastal states including New York.

Even white Catholics another major element of New York’s suburban and upstate vote reported rising acceptance in Pew and Gallup polls.

In New York,the Siena College poll this month found a new high for support 58 percent. The poll showed reliable voters 55 years old and older were divided on the issue,not strongly opposed; and that the influential independent vote favored same-sex marriage. On April 14,a Quinnipiac University poll found opposition continued to fall toward 30 percent.

”I think at the point you cross 60 percent and approach 2:1 levels of support,the opposition loses its critical mass,” said Gyory,a former aide to three New York governors.

And politicians poll such issues extensively within election districts,something public polls haven’t yet done.

”You clearly don’t want to be behind it,” Gyory said. ”This is a runaway freight train in the suburbs.”

Upstate and suburban Republicans in the Senate also might prefer to dispatch the difficult issue this year,rather than in 2012 when they will be up for re-election,especially with a popular governor taking a lead role.