New York State
senator Malcolm Smith, who reportedly used gay marriage as
a bargaining chip to help convince three conservative state
senators to caucus with Democrats -- thereby making
Democrats the state senate's majority party -- issued
a statement Wednesday that effectively nullifies the
original deal.
"Today I am
announcing that the Democratic Members of the Senate have
elected to cease negotiations on reorganization matters with
all three Senators as discussed both in private and in
the press," Smith said in the statement. "We are
suspending negotiations, effective immediately,
because to do so otherwise would reduce our moral standing
and the long-term Senate Democratic commitment to reform and
to change."
The deal as it
was reported would have brought the socially conservative
"Gang of Three" -- senators Ruben Diaz Sr. and Carl Kruger
and senator-elect Pedro Espada Jr., all of whom oppose
gay marriage -- into the Democratic fold by making
Espada the Democratic majority leader and Smith the
president pro tempore of the senate, rather than having one
person hold both positions as in the past.
Smith reportedly
had also agreed to delay a vote on same-sex marriage.
LGBT leaders and elected officials have been notably silent
since reports of the deal first surfaced last week.
In today's
statement Smith said he would rather "wait two more years
to take charge of the Senate than to simply serve the
interests of the few." During a press conference
Wednesday morning, he added, "I thought this
was about reform and about real change ... and it became
very clear to me over time that this was more about personal
interests and not the reform that the Senate Democrats
ran on."
According to the
New York Daily News, he also indicated that gay
marriage would not be used as any sort of bargaining
tool in negotiations for control of the senate.
The Empire State
Pride Agenda was quick to release a statement applauding
Smith's change in course.
"We
applaud Senator Malcolm Smith's ongoing efforts to
lead the new Senate majority that voters chose during
the recent elections," Pride Agenda executive director
Alan Van Capelle said in the statement. "By stating
that reform in the Senate cannot include bargaining away
civil rights, Senator Smith has once again
demonstrated his commitment to standing up for all New
Yorkers." The statement went on to say that the
organization would continue working to secure the votes
necessary to pass a marriage equality bill in the
senate.
But Smith's
announcement has angered some, including Sen. Ruben Diaz,
who, in a statement to the Daily News Tuesday
evening expressed his frustration with the gay community. He
insists calls from gay activists played a role in
killing the deal.
"The gays are
calling my office," he said. "They're jamming my
phones. They're going to see what we can do. They've going
to see exactly what we can do. Ed Koch is going to see
what we can do. They're just going to see. That is
what I'm telling you."
Last week
Advocate.com reported that same-sex marriage may well have
been bargained away in reaching a senate deal. At the
time, Freedom to Marry's executive director Evan
Wolfson said that despite reports to the contrary, it
was important to stay positive.
"Don't buy into the idea that marriage is
being put on the back burner," he said. "Politicians
always float trial balloons. There are those who want
us to surrender and walk away and expect less. We've
only just begun to fight, and we can't give up before
we've started." (Kerry Eleveld,
Advocate.com)
