New York Gay Marriage Passes First Hurdle

ALBANY, NY -- The New York State Assembly's Judiciary Committee Monday passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage by a 16 - 5 margin. This was the first important hurdle the bill would have to pass in order to become law.

The Democrats in the committee voted in favor of the bill while all the Republicans voted against. The bill will now move on to the Rules Committee before going to the Assembly floor for a vote.

New York's Court of Appeals ruled last year that same-sex couples do not have a constitutional right to marry and that it would be up to the legislature to decide if gays should have the right to marry or not.

In April, Gov. Eliot Spitzer became the first governor in the country to introduce same-sex marriage legislation.

Despite Spitzer's backing, the legislation stands almost no chance of passage yet in New York's Republican-led state Senate.

"We not doing gay marriage by Thursday that's for sure, or this year," Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno declared Tuesday morning as lawmakers wound down their annual legislative session, which is due to wrap up on Thursday.

Same-sex marriage in the U.S. is legal only in Massachusetts, but nine other states have approved spousal rights in some form for same-sex couples — Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Maine, California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii.