New York Assembly Approves Gay Marriage

ALBANY, NY -- The New York Assembly on Tuesday night approved a bill to allow same-sex marriage in New York. The bill, which was sponsored by Rosie O'Donnell's gay brother Daniel O'Donnell and supported by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, passed with a 85-61 vote.

The Assembly vote is an important first step if New York is ever to legalize gay marriages, even though the bill is not expected to be acted on any time soon in the Republican-led state Senate.

"I'm very proud of my colleagues," said Daniel O'Donnell, D-Manhattan. The bill passed 85-61, more than he expected.

O'Donnell had earlier told his colleagues that civil union wasn't good enough.

"It will not provide equality for people like me," he said.

While Democrats, who control 107 seats in the 150-seat Assembly were in the majority of those voting yes, some Republicans joined in as well.

"It is not a life choice, it is not something someone can change," said Teresa Sayward, R-Elizabethown, who has a gay son.

Shortly after the vote, openly gay Staten Island Democrat Matthew Titone rose with his cell phone in his hand.

"I have my partner here on the phone and he just asked me to marry him," Titone, only elected in March, told the chamber.

"My answer, Madam Speaker, is yes," said Titone to a round of applause.

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.