NY: Constituents Back a Tough Stand

Link: New York Times

Excerpt:

For many Democratic members of the Assembly, last year’s passage of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage was the culmination of years of battle and persuasion within their party’s ranks, and most of them eventually supported the legislation.

For the few Assembly Republicans who ultimately supported the bill, the vote was potentially far more risky: a public break with their own party on an issue that at the time was still considered in some quarters to be radioactive, potentially even career-killing.

But the experience of Assemblywoman Teresa R. Sayward suggests that those fears may be unwarranted.

Ms. Sayward, left, a three-term Republican from the North Country, an observant Roman Catholic in a heavily Catholic district, surprised many of her colleagues last year when she rose to speak in support of the bill, reflecting on her own experiences coming to terms with the fact that her son, Glenn, was gay.

More surprising — to Ms. Sayward, anyway—was the response from her constituents after news of the vote percolated through her district. More than three-fifths of those who contacted Ms. Sayward’s office about the issue said they either agreed with her position or respected her willingness to make a stand on principle.

“We did get some of those very heated phone calls and letters as we expected to get,” she said. “But we didn’t get as many as you’d think. We got an excellent reception.” Some letters, she said, came from parents who had kept quiet about their own gay children for years. “They decided they were no longer going to be secretive,” Ms. Sayward said. “That touched my heart the most.”

[...]

Ultimately, no corresponding bill came to a vote in the Republican-controlled State Senate. But gay-rights groups say they believe that the lack of a public outcry over last year’s Assembly vote will help them next year in the Senate. Democrats hope to take control of the chamber in this fall’s election.

“I think most of the Assembly members that voted for this had a good experience with it, and that will help build support in the Senate,” said Alan Van Capelle, executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights group, who has been meeting with Albany lawmakers on the issue each week. “People are not afraid of gay marriage. It’s just not a wedge issue any more in New York State.”

[jw]