If the elected officials in the above posted news story don't bankrupt our pensions... Having a ton of new carpet munchers and dick smokers" gay surviving spouses" will....
Allowing gays to marry will cost every government pension across our country billions of dollars! Billions of dollars these pensions don't have...
Photo: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (l.) is shown to the podium at Cooper Union Thursday by Rachel Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality and his niece.New York's Flaming Liberal Mayor Bloomberg made an impassioned plea Thursday for same-sex marriage - and revealed the issue was a matter close to his own family.
Bloomberg appeared with his lesbian niece, Rachel Tiven, and forcefully said it was wrong she, his gay friends and staff could not legally marry.
"I cannot tell them that marriage is not for them," Bloomberg said. "I cannot tell them that a civil union is good enough."
Bloomberg, in eloquent tones similar to his defense of the Ground Zero mosque a year ago, linked the debate to the Civil Rights struggle and called it "the next great barrier" for the nation. He also warned lawmakers not to be on the wrong side of history.
"Do you want to be remembered as a leader on civil rights or an obstructionist?" asked Bloomberg, who made repeated references to the birth of the gay-rights movement at the Stonewall Inn, just blocks from where he spoke at Cooper Union.
Bloomberg guaranteed that change would come, saying "it is not a matter of if - but when."
Tiven, the eldest daughter of Bloomberg's sister, Majorie, has never prominently appeared with him before but said she was proud to stand with him in this fight.
"It's an issue for conservatives, an issue for liberals, an issue no matter what party you're in," said Tiven, executive director of advocacy group Immigration Equality. "The time is now."
Bloomberg, whose speech drew praise from activists, called for the state Legislature to vote on the issue this session - but Albany lawmakers may not let it happen.
A gay-marriage bill has not yet been proposed in the Republican-controlled state Senate, and lawmakers have estimated that even if it comes to the floor, it will fall several votes short of passing.
Though Bloomberg has lobbied Albany to pass the bill, the same lawmakers who are poised to defeat it have benefited from the his support in the past, some observers said.
"The mayor has been an enormous funder to the Republican conference," said state Sen. Thomas Duane (D-Manhattan). "They are now in the majority. And marriage can not pass without Republican votes."
Gov. Cuomo also supports the legislation but has indicated he would not bring the issue to a vote unless he felt it would pass.
The same-sex marriage push did pick up other key allies yesterday, including former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, who once described homosexuality as an "abnormal lifestyle."
Bruno now says it's a matter of equal rights and public opinion overwhelmingly supports its legalization. He has been lobbying senators on its behalf.