New York Gay Rights Foe Sees Nuance in His Stand/State Senate Delays Vote on Same-Sex Marriage Bill

New York Gay Rights Foe Sees Nuance in His Stand
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE and JEREMY W. PETERS
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: November 9, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/nyregion/10marriage.html?th&emc=th


ALBANY — Every Sunday morning, the deep, melodious voice of State Senator Rubén Díaz Sr. rumbles across the congregation at his Bronx church. On weekdays, it echoes across the Senate chamber as he rails against Medicaid cuts or abortion. Earlier this year, it enthralled thousands at a boisterous rally against same-sex marriage.

Rubén Díaz Sr., a New York state senator, has argued that a bill legalizing gay marriage should not be allowed to come to the floor.

But ask him about the gay people in his own life, and Mr. Díaz’s voice grows quiet. His smile vanishes.

Two of his brothers are gay, he murmurs, one of them recently deceased. So is a granddaughter. There is an old friend who works for him in the Senate. And a former campaign aide.

“I love them. I love them,” says Mr. Díaz, who grew up one of 17 children in Puerto Rico. “But I don’t believe in what they are doing. They are my brothers. They are my family.”

His voice rises again. “So how could I be a homophobe?”

For those fighting to expand gay rights, Mr. Díaz, a Pentecostal minister, represents the most outspoken and unpredictable of foes. He was forced to resign from the city’s Civilian Complaint Review Board years ago for suggesting that the Gay Games would encourage homosexuality and spread H.I.V. In 2003, he sued the city to shut down a high school for gay and transgender students.

As advocates push for a vote on same-sex marriage in the State Senate on Tuesday, Mr. Díaz is again speaking out, arguing that last week’s election results show that the tide has turned against allowing gay people to wed.

And, given the Democrats’ fragile majority — the party has 32 senators to the Republicans’ 30 — Mr. Díaz’s stubbornness often yields results.

“The people of the nation don’t want gay marriage,” Mr. Díaz said in an interview Monday. “They didn’t want it in California; they didn’t want it in Maine. And the people of upstate New York, after what happened to the candidate in the 23rd Congressional District, they sent a message they don’t want gay marriage. Forget about it. People don’t want it.”

Mr. Díaz argued that the bill legalizing same-sex marriage should not be allowed to come to the floor, saying the Legislature has more important issues to attend to.

And some of his colleagues on Monday, while avoiding his provocative language, appeared to be moving to that position, worried that the political climate is too tense and the state’s fiscal crisis too urgent for the issue to be taken up now. On Monday evening, it was not clear whether the Senate would consider the measure.

The fight over same-sex marriage has thrust Mr. Díaz, 66, back into a familiar role — dissenting from and exasperating Democratic Senate leaders and some of his colleagues.

Earlier this year, he and three other Democrats initially refused to back Malcolm A. Smith, the Senate’s top Democrat, for majority leader, throwing the Democratic caucus into chaos until Mr. Smith offered them perks and committee chairmanships.

Mr. Díaz is also the Senate’s most outspoken opponent of abortion, and he once likened the harvesting of stem cells for research to Hitler using “the ashes of the Jews to make bars of soap.”

“He always comes into conference or onto the floor with his mind made up, ready to argue,” said Senator Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat who represents Manhattan and the Bronx. “And he loves to argue.”

But to Mr. Díaz and his friends, the senator’s steadfast opposition to same-sex marriage seems at times incongruous.

Christopher R. Lynn, Mr. Díaz’s chief counsel, who is gay and lives with his partner in Queens, said that he has undergone three back operations, and that every time he goes into the hospital, Mr. Díaz has been there.

“He is a true believer in Christian values, in treating people the way you want to be treated,” Mr. Lynn said.

Mr. Díaz describes Mr. Lynn as “my brother.” They often double-date with their respective better halves. Mr. Lynn has not been able to move Mr. Díaz on the issue of marriage.

“He said to me, ‘For me to accept this, I have to turn my whole value system upside down,’ ” Mr. Lynn said.

Mr. Díaz, whose South Bronx district is the second-poorest in New York, also raises his voice loudly on behalf of the poor, leaving some liberals in the Capitol reluctant to criticize him for his social views because he has been a reliable ally on economic issues.

“I see people looking at me, like, ‘Look at this guy,’ ”Mr. Díaz said, rolling his eyes. “And in the end, I get what want.”

In many ways, Mr. Díaz seems conflicted. He relishes the role of the lonely dissident, sometimes practically taunting Democratic leaders to throw him out of the party. Still, the senator resents those who brand him a bigot for his views, and seems to plead for understanding.








State Senate Delays Vote on Same-Sex Marriage Bill
By JEREMY W. PETERS
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: November 10, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/nyregion/11albany.html?th&emc=th


ALBANY — The fate of same-sex marriage collided with the often-dysfunctional political process here on Tuesday as the State Senate delayed a vote on a bill that would make it legal for gay and lesbian couples to marry in New York.

Gov. David A. Paterson, in an interview Tuesday in his office, said a vote on a gay marriage bill “is closer than people think.”

After an entire day of deliberations, Senate leaders emerged from the governor’s office late Tuesday with only a vague agreement that the bill would come to a vote before the end of the year.

Gov. David A. Paterson had placed the bill on the agenda for an emergency session that convened Tuesday, and gay rights advocates had been aggressively lobbying for an immediate vote. But the legislation’s prospects have grown cloudier in recent days. Supporters have had difficulty securing the 32 votes they need for approval in the Senate, and a dispute between Mr. Paterson and legislative leaders over how to close a budget deficit that now exceeds $3 billion has held up votes on major legislation.

Mr. Paterson said he would continue negotiating with legislative leaders on budget cuts this week and would call lawmakers back to Albany on Monday and Tuesday of next week. He said he would again include marriage on the agenda, but it remained unclear whether the Senate would debate it next week or wait until later in the year.

“I think that the vote is closer than people think,” he said in an interview.

He added, “It is one of those rare types of legislation that you never know what people are going to do until it hits the floor.”

The delay leaves proponents and opponents of same-sex marriage with more time to lobby for votes, which they were both busily doing on Tuesday.

Republicans and Democrats said the marriage bill was still several votes short of passing in the Senate, where the Democrats have a 32-to-30 majority. About five Democrats remained either opposed or noncommittal, meaning that Republican votes were needed to secure passage. But not enough Republicans have committed to voting yes, legislators said. Supporters of the bill would like to to have 29 votes lined up from Democrats so they need only 3 Republicans, a goal they feel is more realistic than getting 5 or more Republicans.

As legislators negotiated over the budget and the marriage bill all day, business in the Senate was at a standstill. Senators entered the chamber shortly after noon and took up a resolution honoring veterans. It was one of only a handful of noncontroversial measures that they took up.

With no agreement on how to close the budget deficit, many senators have been unwilling to put the same-sex marriage bill up for a vote first.

“We’ve always said the D.R.P. is the priority,” said Senator Pedro Espada Jr., the majority leader, referring to the governor’s deficit reduction plan. “We also know there’s a great expectation surrounding marriage equality. And my personal view is it should come up for a vote. As for when, let’s just put it this way: In my view I think it will follow the D.R.P.”

But the political dynamic surrounding same-sex marriage has changed in the last week and a half, making it harder for supporters to win votes. Voters in Maine last week repealed a state law that would have permitted same-sex marriage; and a pro-gay-rights Republican in a Congressional race upstate dropped out of the race a few days before the election after conservatives attacked her in part for her liberal social views.

Those developments have emboldened opponents of same-sex marriage in New York, who in conversations with senators in recent days have pointed to the recent elections as a reason to vote no.

“A lot of our job was done for us by the electorate in Maine and the electorate in the north country,” said Dennis Poust, communications director for the New York State Catholic Conference, the political arm of the state’s bishops. “Why is it beneficial for Republicans to take on this very controversial issue right now? It’s not. And we’re making sure to remind them of what happened last Tuesday.”

Alan Van Capelle, executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, said gay rights advocates would hold the Senate to its pledge to vote before the end of the year. He said he trusted senators “to honor the commitment that was made.”

Danny Hakim contributed reporting.