Spitzer says he
would push for same-sex marriage

New York's leading candidate for governor, Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer, said on Thursday that he will push to legalize same-sex marriage if he is elected in November, staking out a position that most prominent Democrats, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, have shied away from, reports The New York Tiimes.

Spitzer made the remarks to the Empire State Pride Agenda, the state's leading gay rights group, telling the audience, ''We will make it law in New York.'' If elected, Spitzer would be the most prominent state official in the nation to call for the legalization of same-sex marriage, though Democratic candidates for governor in California and Massachusetts have also expressed support.

Spitzer's position could be a perilous one for a politician considered presidential material, and he has acknowledged that if elected governor, he would first push other legislative priorities, including cutting property taxes and overhauling Medicaid. But during Thursday's fund-raising dinner, he said he would not let outside pressures influence his stance on marriage.

''We will not ask whether this proposition of legalizing same-sex marriage is popular or unpopular; we will not ask if it's hard or easy; we will simply ask if it's right or wrong,'' he told a crowd of nearly 1,200 gathered at a Midtown Manhattan hotel ballroom. ''I think we know in this room what the answer to that question is.''

Even with a governor's support, there is the not-insubstantial obstacle of the state legislature, said the Times. Same-sex marriage bills have not advanced beyond committees in the assembly, where Democrats have an overwhelming majority, and would face a difficult path in the Republican-controlled senate. Spitzer's Republican opponent, John Faso, does not support marriage equality. (The Advocate)