Marriage Equality Fails In New York — But Why?

As the votes rolled in following today’s tense and dramatic New York Senate debate, it became clear that the bill was not going to pass … it wasn’t going to pass by a long shot.

24-38, to be exact.

The bill would’ve made New York the sixth state in the country to have passed a marriage equality bill, continuing the state’s long history of being known as the country’s mixing pot — the Big Apple.

Several Senators made grave and important points regarding the necessity of passing this bill.

“Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Nebraska,” read Senator Eric Adams, an African American Democrat from Brooklyn.

“All of these states at one time or another sold blacks into slavery and participated in legal slavery because a numerical majority” which supported slavery at the time. “But a numerical majority in one place does not mean they are in the right place. We must lead the country to the right place.”

“The same comments being made against same-sex marriage were the same comments my grandmother received in Alabama when she wanted to marry my grandfather,” said Adam.

Many Jewish senators spoke out, too, drawing parallels between the struggle for equal rights for gays and Jews.

“This is not just for the gay and lesbian community,” said Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer, a Jewish Democrat from Mamaroneck. “It is for all of us, a measure of our humanity.”

However, at the end of the day … the measure still failed.

Why? What do you think it’s going to take to push the marriage equality fight forward? Do you see any parallels between the fight for marriage equality and other civil rights fights that have occurred in this country’s history?