We support the full inclusion of all families in the life of our nation, with equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law, including the freedom to marry. Government has no business putting barriers in the path of people seeking to care for their family members, particularly in challenging economic times. We support the Respect for Marriage Act and the overturning of the federal so-called Defense of Marriage Act, and oppose discriminatory constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny the freedom to marry to loving and committed same-sex couples.

DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz also supports marriage equality.  In 2008, then candidate Obama opposed gay marriage, but recently he has said that his view on the issue is “evolving.”  The inclusion of marriage quality in the official 2012 platform would make Obama’s eventual support of the issue all the more likely.

The state of New York has long recognized out-of-state, same-sex marriages and the enactment of the Marriage Equality Act further cements our state’s position on this critical civil rights issue. My office will fight every day to defend the fundamental guarantee of equal protection under law for all New Yorkers.

This past Sunday, July 24th, marked the first day of legal, gay marriages in New York state.  Marriage Equality advocates are now turning their attention to the overturning of DOMA, which still prohibits recognition of gay marriage at the federal level.

Pride Parade Photos from Jon Reznick on Vimeo.

Marriage equality has been a signature MYD issue since 2009. Our legislative action project, New Yorkers for Marriage Equality, put us on the map in New York’s online organizing space by sending thousands of supportive letters to State Senators.

The behind-the-scenes story is that it was a labor of love, pulled together over a single, sleepless weekend by a handful of dedicated MYD volunteers (notably former MYD President Al Benninghoff, then-Creative Director Chas Danner, and then-Social Media guru Julie Blitzer) who felt passionately that New York should be on the forefront of this issue.

After launching the campaign with nearly 30 co-sponsors, we got an incredible lucky break when our Communications Director Beth Totman pitched the link to Perez Hilton — resulting in a huge spike of activity on the site as tens of thousands of visitors clicked through to send their letters and tell their friends. We got media coverage from Ben Smith at Politico and Michael Connery at Future Majority and released a video (lovingly crafted by another volunteer, Shannon Manning) to support the campaign. Julie ended up talking about it on CNN. We hand-delivered thousands of letters to Albany with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Sadly, the bill died in the State Senate when the entire Republican caucus and a handful of Democrats (boo hiss!) voted against it. To say that we were devastated is an understatement. But we (and 400,000+ other people who saw the video) also didn’t give up — State Senator Diane Savino’s amazing speech from the floor made sure of that:

But we took that anger and channeled it into something productive in 2010: namely, removing two anti-ME State Senators from office. MYDers canvassed and phonebanked for Tony Avella in Queens and David Carlucci in Rockland in the elections last year, helping to flip both of these seats to fantastic reformers who were on the right side of this critical issue.

And now, 2011. In January, we hear that a campaign is being put together by our friends at Human Rights Campaign, Marriage Equality New York, Empire State Pride Agenda. HRC’s organizers come and chat with us at our January general meeting and talk strategy. We launch our LGBT Issues Committee.

As momentum around the campaign grew, we relaunched New Yorkers for Marriage Equality and fed updates to the campaign’s nearly 20,000 Facebook supporters. We phonebanked at SEIU using their awesomely futuristic predictive-dialing system. We canvassed in Queens to collect signed postcards from State Senator Addabbo’s constituents. And for all of those cynics out there who say that grassroots activism doesn’t matter, I say, you’re just wrong:

“Queens Sen. Joseph Addabbo explained his change of heart yesterday by saying he was following the will of his constituents. Of the 6,015 calls to his office in recent months, 4,839 favored marriage equality.”

And after so many phone calls and postcards and emails sent over the past six months, today, finally, the State Senate passed marriage equality. We won.

Thank you to each and every one of you who took time out of your busy days to stand up for what you believe in. Marriage equality has been voted the most important issue to MYD members three years in a row — and your hard work, combined with the power of thousands of other New Yorkers fighting for what they knew was right — truly made a difference.

So how should we celebrate? There’s only one way to do this particular victory justice: March with us at Pride! Section 4, 39th St. between 5th and 6th Ave. (map) Email Kim (secretary@goMYD.com) to RSVP.

Thank you for all that you do.

OBAMA: Part of the reason that DOMA doesn’t make sense is that traditionally marriage has been decided by the states and right now, I understand there is a little debate going on here in New York about whether to join five other states and DC in allowing civil marriage for gay couples. And I want to say that under the leadership of Governor Cuomo, with the support of Democrats and Republicans, New York is doing exactly what democracies are supposed to to do. There is a debate, there is a deliberation about what it means here in New York to treat people fairly in the eyes of the law and that is — look, that’s the power of our democratic system.

There are a number of issues still to be resolved in Albany, which means the Legislature will be staying beyond today’s June 20th deadline.

We are heartened that there continues to be respectful and productive dialogue on the issue of marriage equality and believe we are getting close to a vote on the Governor’s marriage bill.

New Yorkers United for Marriage asks you to join us at a Rally for Love and Marriage tomorrow –Tuesday June 21 — at noon outside the Capitol in Albany. Together, we will make sure that all New Yorkers will soon be able to marry the person they love.

RSVP on Facebook

One great anecdote reported in thenewcivilrightsmovement.com describes Assemblyman Nick Perry (D), who voted against Marriage Equality three times prior, voted yes this time. He finally came to the conclusion that “the freedom to live the life you choose to make you happy is a right everyone should enjoy.” Though, just to underscore the ignorance we still face, Assemblyman Dov Hikind held up a photo of Lady Gaga as he voted against the measure – evidently pointing out that if Marriage Equality passes, New Yorkers would be compelled to wear phones as hats.

If you’re interested in this kind of thing, Capitol Confidential has a tally of the vote so you can check on your own representative, as well as a rehash of their live tweets of the debate.

Attention now shifts to the State Senate, which has seen a number of “NO” and UNDECIDED” votes shift to the “YES” column just this week. We only need one more, so please come out to the Marriage Equality phone bank tonight at 5PM. The vote is close and you can make a difference.

Updated: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Assemblyman Jonathan Bing already left the State Assembly to join the Cuomo Administration. He will be departing after this current legislative session. Sorry for any confusion this error my have caused.

Join New Yorker’s United for Marriage Phonebank tonight!

Amazing.

h/t Elizabeth