In the balance: NY senators stuck on gay marriage

[June 21, 2011]  ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Amped-up rhetoric aside and with seemingly little regard for the national microscope being trained on them, lawmakers in New York will go back to the office Tuesday with the galvanizing issue of gay marriage still unresolved after more than a week of shrieking headlines and backdoor negotiations.

In the true essence of Albany, politicians in this nearly 400-year-old city will bargain and bicker over a host of seemingly unconnected issues as gay couples and other states watch closely for indications about which way the national debate is evolving over using the word "marriage" to describe the union between people of the same sex.

Rent control for New York City apartment dwellers will come up. Same, too, for a cap on the amount of taxes municipalities can raise each year. All are set against the backdrop of what national advocates call a basic human right and what opponents call an assault on the religious sanctity of legal marriage between a man and a woman.

There was little progress Monday, even as hundreds of chanting protesters from each side of the highly charged debate in New York tried to make their case. The key sticking point appears to be how much freedom to grant religious groups who protest gay marriage and refuse to perform services or provide related functions like wedding receptions.

Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Iowa and the District of Columbia all allow gay marriage. Of them, all but Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., allow at least limited religious exemptions.

So, with only two days left in the scheduled legislative session, Republicans who are the last hurdle to gay marriage in the nation's third-most populous state will likely adjourn Tuesday morning to their conference room on the right flank of the ornate Senate chamber while reporters and New Yorkers gather outside and wait for the door to open.

On Monday, after a three-hour meeting behind those closed doors, the 32 Republican senators emerged without comment. A vote within the private session to even move the bill to the floor for final legislative approval was pushed to at least Tuesday as private negotiations continued between Republican Senate leader Dean Skelos and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has made same-sex marriage a major initiative.

New York's vote is pivotal in the national question over same-sex marriage, an effort that largely stalled in the same room two years ago when the Senate voted it down. Since then, efforts have failed in New Jersey, Rhode Island and Maryland. Advocates hope a "yes" vote will jump-start the effort.

Skelos worries a federal judge could strike down flimsy religious protections in the current proposal if a religious group, such as the Knights of Columbus, is sued for discrimination for refusing to provide its hall for a gay wedding. He wants protections that will allow a religious group to observe its principles without conflicting with a gay marriage law.

"I think that's critically important," Skelos said.

Monday's inaction was a disappointment for both sides of the gay marriage issue, some of whom had expected a decision a week ago.

The day's uncommon, but peaceful demonstrations included a group saying the Rosary in the nearby Capitol park. Inside the building's marble halls, opponents chanted "God says no!" while supporters countered with "God is love!" They sang hymns such as "Victory is Mine" and songs like "God Bless America" and "This Little Light of Mine."

State troopers were called to the Senate chamber floor as the two groups started to merge and talk with each other, but there was no escalation in the jammed hallways that turned stifling hot from the number of people and TV cameras. Most were respectful and kept to their own groups.

"We certainly have no hatred for anyone who follows this lifestyle," said Pastor William Mayhew of Faith Bible Chapel in Millerton. "The difference is we will be forced in our churches, in our businesses, all of our life practices, to acknowledge something which we strongly, morally disagree."

The Assembly has already passed the measure. Negotiations are expected to continue Tuesday.

[Associated Press; By MICHAEL GORMLEY]

Associated Press writer Michael Virtanen contributed to this report.

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