I love the smell of good news in the morning: The New York State Assembly voted late Tuesday to legalize same-sex marriage. Not only that, but the measure passed by a vote of 89-52 with the support of a number of legislators who just two years ago rejected a similar bill. Woot!
Now, don't get too excited, though: The issue still has to make it through the state Senate, where there is likely to be a much smaller margin. But same-sex marriage advocates are well-prepared for the battle, having "concentrated their lobbying efforts on Assembly members who share districts with state senators whose votes were deemed to be in play on the issue," UPI reports. Fingers crossed.
In the meantime, a lesbian couple is pushing the the issue several thousand miles away in Moscow, according to the New York Times. On Tuesday, longtime partners Irina Fedotova and Irina Shipitko -- imagine if one of them takes the other's last name! -- showed up at a marriage registration office clad in tuxedos -- one black, one white -- and holding matching bouquets. Given that gay marriage isn't allowed in Russia, they knew quite well that they could be turned away, and they were. An official told them, plainly: "According to article 12 of the family codex, for a marriage to be sanctioned it is necessary to have the mutual and voluntary agreement of a man and a woman.”
I'll leave you with a far more charming, and human, quote from Fedotova: "We have love" -- indeed, I bet Palin can see it from her house -- "we have happiness, we want to be together for our whole lives and we want to do this here in Russia."
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