The New York State Young Democrats will continue to fight for Marriage Equality in New York State. As part of our ongoing campaign we will be providing our members with the opinions of our elected officials on this issue.
Today we have the statements from two of the Democratic State Senators who voted against Marriage Equality. We were very disappointed to see that both State Senator Shirley Huntley and State Senator George Onorato were on the wrong side of history, and we will remember this come 2010.
Statement From State Senator Shirley Huntley :
“I firmly believe that my vote against the Marriage Equality legislation reflects the wishes of the vast majority of my constituents. With that being said, I also firmly believe that any decision on Marriage Equality should, ultimately, be made by the people of New York State, not the Legislature . I would fully support a referendum to allow the people of New York State to decide the issue”.
Statement From State Senator George Onorato:
“I deeply respect the views of the gay and lesbian community on same-sex marriage, although they are not my own, and I have appreciated the candid and most universally respectful dialogue we have had on this issue. Over the years, I have voted in favor of the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA), the hate crimes law, and other legislation of importance to the LGBT community, and I continue to support the Dignity for All Students Act and the Gender Identification Non Discrimination Act (GENDA). But on same-sex marriage, we must continue to agree to disagree”.