Archbishop Timothy Dolan lashed out at the "stampede" to legalize gay
marriage, even as a second Republican lawmaker flipped and
brought the proposal within one vote of passage.
The state's
top Catholic leader in his weekly online column compared Gov. Cuomo's
campaign to make New York the sixth and largest state to allow gay
nuptials to some communist regimes' efforts to supplant God's
"undeniable truth" with a "chic cause."
"Last time I consulted
an atlas, it is clear we are living in New York, in the United States of
America -- not in China or North Korea," said Dolan, who also leads the
US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
"God, not Albany, has settled the definition of marriage a long time ago."
The archbishop's appeal was unable to stop a second Republican senator
in as many days from announcing plans to vote "yes" on same-sex
marriage if GOP leaders let the bill reach the floor this week.
The declaration by Sen. Roy McDonald (R-Saratoga) gives advocates 31 committed votes in the 62-seat Senate chamber and puts the legislation, which has repeatedly passed the state Assembly, one vote away from becoming law.
An agitated McDonald, who has been under intense pressure from both
sides to take a position, repeatedly chided reporters when he finally
renounced his previous "No" vote on a gay marriage bill that failed two
years ago.
"As a father, as a grandfather, you try to do the
right thing," McDonald said. "Now, you might not like that. F- -k it. I
don't care what you think. I'm trying to do the right thing."
McDonald attributed his decision to "compassion" for his developmentally
disabled grandchildren, who he said prove "that people in circumstances
aren't always what you think they're going to be."
Sen. Greg
Ball (R-Putnam) signaled he could be the next to break ranks after
reading the bill from Cuomo that included legal assurances that
religious groups wouldn't be obligated to certify same-sex nuptials.
"I'm glad that we have some religious carve-outs and protections in
it," Ball said. "I'm going to reach out and see how comfortable the
Catholic Church and other religious organizations are with the current
language."
Sen. James Alesi of
Rochester, the first Republican to break ranks, told Albany's Talk
1300-AM he believed there are "at least five viable votes" among his 31
fellow Republicans.