On Friday, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed the Marriage Equality Act into law. This made New York the sixth and largest out of a union of states which have already legalized same sex marriage. This union includes: Iowa, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and now New York.
I think that slowly with the passage of time the U.S. will become more liberal and more accepting of homosexuality. A sizable majority of the U.S. population, I think about 51%, is supportive of same-sex marriage. It seems that until Friday, it was only American lawmakers and conservative politicians that were reserved to take the next step in New York.
According to an article in the New York Times, the individuals that tipped the balance of the vote in favor of gay marriage were of Republican stripe.
Now that seems rather unlikely, however it is the truth. Apparently, a couple of weeks ago, two of Governor Cuomo’s advisers met with a group of wealthy Republican donors. These rich men were billionaire Paul Singer and hedge fund managers Cliff Asness and Daniel Loeb.
Within a week after the meeting, each of the men cut six figure cheques to the lobbying campaign supporting same-sex marriage, totaling one million USD.
Say what? How is it possible that Republicans are now willing to actually fund lobbying for a Democrat and his campaign to legalize gay marriage in one of America’s largest states?
Could there possibly be a shift in Republican thinking on the question of gay rights? Well, it seems that the answer to that question is yes.
As New York Times columnist Frank Bruni put it in his article titled “To know us is to let us love“:
Why such widespread backing, from such surprising quarters? One major reason is that the wish and push to be married cast gay men and lesbians in the most benign, conservative light imaginable, not as enemies of tradition but as aspirants to it. In the quest for integration and validation, saying “I do” to “I do” is much more effective — not to mention more reflective of the way most gay people live — than strutting in leather on a parade float. We’re not trying to undermine the institution of marriage, a task ably handled by the likes of Tiger Woods, Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Edwards and too many other onetime role models to mention. We’re paying it an enormous compliment.
Also, the forces that be, Cuomo, Singer, Mayor Bloomberg and others, have had some sort of gay influence in their lives.
Mayor Bloomberg’s niece, Rachel, is lesbian, Governer Cuomo’s longtime companion Sarah Lee has a gay brother and Singer’s son is also gay. These influences obviously had a say in the decision of each men to support equality of marriage.
Nevertheless, we can now say that lobbying money and some Republicans, religious or otherwise, aren’t all that bad.
The influential one’s seem to have finally chosen the right camp. The camp that respects all individuals regardless of sexual orientation.
