Public Employee Press

Unionists back gay marriage

Ray Markey, president of New York Public Library Guild Local 1930 and Nathaniel Keitt, chair of the DC 37 Lesbian and Gay Issues Committee, spoke out for same-sex marriage rights March 3 in Albany.

“This is a question of basic equality and human rights,” said Markey, at a public forum on civil marriage for same-sex couples in New York State. “Love is love and is not gender based. Who will be harmed by same sex marriage? No one.”

State Assembly member Richard Gottfried and Thomas K. Duane, the only openly gay member of the State Senate, sponsored the forum. The two Manhattan Democrats have introduced legislation in favor of allowing same-sex marriage.

“The right of marriage is vital for same-sex couples because with it, we will have legal and economic protections for committed, loving couples,” said Keitt. “The denial of these rights is just plain discriminatory.”

President Bush has proposed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution (the Federal Marriage Amendment) that would define marriage as strictly between a man and woman.

“There is a movement in this country to define marriage as solely between a man and woman,” testified Keitt at the hearing. “Well, the times have certainly changed since all that rhetoric was put into place.”