N.Y. lawmakers' gay marriage banter riles ACLU

If New York State senate majority leader Joseph Bruno was joking when he said Wednesday that when it comes to working with Gov. George Pataki, the two "make love," the American Civil Liberties Union wasn't laughing. At the opening of a cogeneration power plant at Hudson Valley Community College, Bruno said, "I've been proud to partner with this governor--most of the time," drawing laughter from Pataki and others. Bruno, who has had some notable battles with Pataki over the state budget and other issues, told the audience that "like all good partners, occasionally you don't partner. But you kiss, you make up, and you make love most of the time." Pataki, getting his chance at the podium, got his own laughs as he glanced at Bruno. "I don't mind making love to you," Pataki said. "Just don't ask me to marry you." "Gov. Geroge Pataki was way out of line in his disparaging comments about same-sex marriage," Matt Coles, director of the ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, said in a statement. "The governor may think it's funny that he can't marry Senator Bruno, but after he stops laughing he can go home to his wife. The joke isn't so funny for people who get turned away when their partners are in emergency rooms, like Sylvia Samuels and Diane Gallagher, or to people who pay for 'family' insurance but can't include the love of their lives, like Kathy Tuggle and Tonja Alvis, or for all the same-sex couples whose relationships are disrespected every day. The governor should let everybody in on the joke by taking a stand for marriage for same-sex couples."