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Karen Schuster of Rochester, NY has a gay son and three straight children. She wants to know why her son Luke does not have the same rights as her daughter Jessica. In Karens words, If Jessica meets someone and falls in love and wants to get married, she can. But if Luke meets someone and falls in love and wants to get married, he can't. It's not equal treatment.This painful situation is the reality for thousands of families across New York State. We need the New York State Senate to act now and pass the marriage equality bill so that same-sex couples will no longer be treated as second-class citizens.




One of the most dominant myths used by forces opposed to marriage equality is that allowing same-sex couples to marry would somehow negatively affect religious institutions or apply restrictions to their freedom to worship as they choose. Although this myth is patently false, that has not stopped some opponents from using the claim to lead people to believe their religious freedom is in danger.

Fortunately, in New York, we do not need to speculate on how religious institutions, spiritual life and the freedom to worship will be affected if the state passes a law allowing same-sex couples to marry. New York needs only to look to our neighbor to the east, Massachusetts — where marriages for same-sex couples have been legal since 2004 — to see that the worries about such a law negatively impacting people of faith have been unfounded.