Posted on 11/19/2003 12:52:15 PM PST by NYer
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ The Republican leader of New York's state Senate said Wednesday he is opposed to allowing homosexuals to legally marry in New York and has no plans to have his chamber approve such legislation. ``That's not on our agenda at all ... We're not focused on that,'' Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno told Albany's WROW-AM radio. ``I don't believe people of the same sex need or ought to be legalized in marriage,'' Bruno added.
The Bruno opposition effectively sounds the death knell for such legislation in the immediate future. In New York, which has a strong leader form of government, it is almost unheard of for legislation to be approved in the Senate without the majority leader's backing or in the Assembly without the support of the speaker.
While state Assemblyman Richard Gottfried has introduced ``right-to-marry'' legislation in that chamber to permit gay marriages in New York, the measure has not won the support of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Gottfried's fellow Manhattan Democrat.
Bruno's comments came a day after Massachusetts' highest court ruled the Legislature there had to come up with a way to allow marriages between same-sex couples. While Bruno said he was personally opposed to gay marriage, he also said, ``People should have the right, as adults, to live their lives as they see fit, as long as they don't intrude or impose themselves on others against their will.''
Bruno said the state already has protections in law to prevent discrimination against gays and lesbians, even if it does not permit same-sex marriages. Last year, at Republican Gov. George Pataki's urging, the GOP-led Senate approved sweeping legislation to outlaw discrimination in housing and other areas based on a person's sexual orientation. The measure, also approved by the Democratic-led Assembly, was quickly signed into law by Pataki.
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