N.Y. Republican Supports Marriage Equality

By Julie Bolcer

New York assemblyman Fred W. Thiele announced his support for marriage equality today, according to the Log Cabin Republicans of New York. His cosponsorship of the legislation makes Thiele the fifth Republican in the state assembly to support marriage equality, and the first to express new support this year.

Thiele -- who represents Suffolk County on Long Island, including the Hamptons -- opposed marriage-equality legislation in 2007, the year it passed the assembly by a vote of 85 to 61 with bipartisan support. He credited his recent reversal to mounting evidence about the inadequacies of civil unions.

"I am committed to the civil rights of all New Yorkers," Thiele said in a press release distributed by the Log Cabin Republicans of New York. "I didn't support the bill in 2007 because I thought equal rights could be guaranteed through civil unions. Since then more states have experimented with civil unions as separate but equal, only to find that discrimination persisted in health care and other areas. The only way to ensure equality is by giving all couples access to the same civil right -- the right to marry."

Thiele joins Republican members of the assembly Teresa Sayward, Dede Scozzafava, Joel Miller, and Janet Duprey, all of whom support marriage equality. It is expected that the legislation, which could be brought to the floor for a vote as early as this week, will pass the Democrat-controlled assembly as it did in 2007.

In the senate, where Democrats hold a razor-thin 32-30 majority, Republican votes will be needed to pass the legislation when it is brought to the floor for a vote. Republican leaders said last month that members would be free to vote their conscience on the issue, but so far no Republicans have announced support publicly.

Jeff Cook, legislative adviser for the Log Cabin Republicans, declined to discuss the vote count among Republicans in the senate, but he said that his group continues to work toward garnering the support needed to get the legislation passed this year.

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Name: Paul
Date posted: 5/4/2009 7:42:00 PM
Hometown: Minneapolis

Comment:
A REPUBLICAN legislator favoring same-sex marriage? Someone better check the thermometer in Hell....
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Name: Sandy Rhodes
Date posted: 5/4/2009 5:10:00 PM
Hometown: Pebble Beach

Comment:
So, I wonder if these 5 Republicans know that they will no longer be supported by the GOP party? They will NOT be eligible for funding by the GOP, they will receive asolubtely NO support, NO staffing, NONE whatsoever. They sign a pledge to adhere to the Party Platform - or they get their support yanked. A Republican who doesn't have the support of the GOP isn't going to be able to call himself a Republican for long. (And besides - these are state pissants - they're irrelephant. (har har harrrrrr)
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Name: Jason
Date posted: 5/4/2009 5:01:00 PM
Hometown: Phoenix

Comment:
Oh so now Republicans are so desperate to win elections that they are willing to lie to their constituents about their true thoughts about the GLBT community, that somehow they "changed." Interesting. I could sell ice in Antarctica and make a decent living at it. Obviously, Republicans and conservatives (There is no difference between them. The only reason why it is supposedly different now is due to Republicans no longer have so much influence) will lie and cheat their way to victory. It is in their nature. Statement from Republican about the GLBT community that is positive is mere propaganda that a group such as the Log Cabin Republicans, who are all too ready to vote against their own interests, will believe is the truth. Pity.
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Name: Victim of U.S.A. 's Talibangelical Laws
Date posted: 5/4/2009 11:26:00 AM
Hometown: Orange County CA.

Comment:
Christians are to the Republicans as the Taliban is to Islam.
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Name: Roger Burr
Date posted: 5/4/2009 10:08:00 AM
Hometown: Marble Hill, MO

Comment:
GOOD GOD!!!! A Republican who actually THINKS for himself??!! What's this world coming to? I welcome their support for marriage equality and hope their deeds match their words. The Republican party needs to move toward the center and away from the hard-right if it hopes to have a future at the national level. Perhaps these five Republicans realize this and are taking steps in that direction. What their party needs to do is follow suit, or be relegated to the status of a regional party, for decades to come. This must frost the HELL out of the 'christian' conservatives in Albany and nationwide. I'm lovin' it!!!
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Name: Peter
Date posted: 5/4/2009 9:58:00 AM
Hometown: Los Angeles

Comment:
Dear Advocate, Why did you selectively blur the right half of the image? I think you did this to emphasize which person in the photo represents the subject of the article, as if the number of microphones next to the guy didn't make it obvious enough. And I don't think you deliberately used a tilt-shift lens to achieve this effect. It may seem like a trifling point, but you should know that this kind of post-processing is atypical and dishonest from a journalism perspective. I know it doesn't make a difference. But it would have been better to simply crop the photo instead of trying to play Photoshop games with it.

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