New York governor David
Paterson said on Wednesday that he would reintroduce
legislation to legalize same-sex marriage.
According to
reports
, the legislation will mirror a program bill for same-sex
marriage introduced in 2007 by former governor Eliot Spitzer.
Paterson will introduce the legislation before an annual gay
rights lobby day scheduled for April 28 in Albany, the state
capital.
"We'll put a
bill out and let the people decide one way or the other,"
the governor said on WHCU-AM in Ithaca.
Last May, Governor
Paterson signed a directive to recognize same-sex
marriages performed in other states. That growing list now
includes Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, and Vermont.
The New York state assembly passed legislation to legalize
same-sex marriage in 2007, but it stalled in the senate, which
was then controlled by Republicans. Senate leaders say they
remain a few votes short of the 32 needed for passage, although
Democrats now control both chambers of the legislature.
A new Quinnipiac
University poll shows that, given three choices, 41% of New
Yorkers believe same-sex couples should be allowed to marry,
33% support civil unions, and 19% think there should be no
legal recognition.
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