New York City Mayor Says Chances of State's Marriage Equality Bill is "Zero, Zero."

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg remains committed to marriage equality, but the chances of the state's marriage bill being voted on in the senate this fall are "zero, zero" he claims.

In an exclusive interview with Gay City News:

“I don’t know how to get it to come up,” he said, explaining his view that having the issue move to the Senate floor may prove more difficult than rounding up the votes. “If you want my honest opinion,” Bloomberg continued, the Senate leadership is unlikely to move a gay marriage bill “when I don’t see these guys willing to stand up for less controversial issues.”

Despite the fact that the number of states with legal gay marriage quickly shot up to six this past spring, the mayor said, “I ‘m scared to death that the country is going in the wrong direction… I think on other LGBT issues they are clearly moving in the direction that I think they should go and you probably do too. It’s the marriage thing that I don’t see.”

Even in New York, where Paterson and his predecessor Eliot Spitzer have been outspoken in supporting gay marriage, Bloomberg argued, “Whether anybody who runs for governor next year will stand up for gay marriage, I’ll bet you 25 cents no.”

Bloomberg, making billions in software services, spoke of his influence over Republicans, such as Senator Frank Padavan of Queens and conservative Democrat Senator Ruben Diaz, both staunchly opposed to marriage equality.

“‘I’m the main funder,’” Bloomberg said of his ability to sway the views of Republican senators. “‘You know, you can’t dictate every piece of legislation, and I don’t want to say that they’re bribable. But they know where I stand, and they want me to be a supporter.’”

Diaz, who I have had a few choice words about before, had his say about Bloomberg.



Empire State Pride Agenda, New York state's largest LGBT advocacy group, is actively involved in getting the marriage equality bill a vote. Get involved!