republican state senators

Republican former Washington State senate minority leader Bill Finkbeiner said Monday he will reverse himself and vote for the state's gay civil rights bill, all but assuring its passage this year after two decades of debate and narrow defeats.

The Democratic-controlled New York State assembly passed Gov. Eliot Spitzer's bill to legalize same-sex marriage Tuesday night in a decisive 85-61 vote. Gay rights advocates hailed it as a victory even though the bill stands almost no chance of being voted on in the state senate, where Republicans hold a slim two-seat majority.

Log Cabin Republicans scored a coup last week when the Republican majority in the New York State senate introduced the Safe Schools for All Students Act, which would protect kids from being bullied in public schools because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Jeff Cook, legislative adviser for Log Cabin, said it was historic to have transgender people included in what is known in Albany parlance as a "rules bill" -- a bill introduced by the majority that is automatically understood to have the assent of the majority leader. "It is the first rules bill that we know of that includes gender identity and expression in New York State," Cook said.