Bob Zuckerman, the openly gay candidate for City Council in the 39th district, was the first one to tell me that Senator Chuck Schumer came out yesterday in support of same-sex marriage. Here's Zuckerman's response to the great news. 

I was thrilled to learn that Senator Schumer now supports the right to marry for same-sex couples as well as a full repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. As a public servant, weighing the human rights of the minority is as equally as important as weighing the desires of the majority. This certainly has been the case in gay and lesbian couples’ quest for the right to marry. 

Senator Schumer is right: it is time.  It is time for New York State to put into law what our neighbors in Connecticut and Massachusetts have done, which is simply to allow same-sex couples like myself and my partner of 12 years, Grant Neumann, to have a civil marriage before our family and friends right here in our home state. It is time to allow my partner and I to share the same 700 rights that New York State grants opposite couples.  And it is time to stop the discrimination of same-sex couples who pay taxes like anyone else but are often treated like second-class citizens. 

I applaud Senator Schumer for coming around on this vitally important issue, and I urge him to use his considerable influence with New York's elected officials to ensure that the now Democraticaly-controlled State Senate pass a marriage equality law this year, so that we in New York can once again become a leader in the fight for civil rights and equality for all.