Commentary:
How NY State Lost the Same-Sex Marriage Battle
As many of you know, our organization, City Action Coalition, was helping lead the fight against the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York State. We have been involved with this struggle since 2004 when we led some of the largest rallies and press conferences ever held on the steps of (and in the vicinity of) New York City Hall.
In the midst of this current fight we were able to galvanize a large movement of churches, inundating fence-sitting senators’ offices with phone calls and emails. We brought together a large and diverse group of clergy for another press conference on the steps of NY City Hall this June 14 (160 clergy in total), as well as another press conference in Albany on June 20.
We also secured New York Giants Super Bowl hero David Tyree to stand with us. He made a video with the National Organization for Marriage which received extensive press coverage. David’s remarks were linked to by the Drudge Report and were covered by all major national newspapers, and even became a topic of conversation on popular talk shows like “The View.”
All of our efforts helped turn the tide for several weeks, as it seemed like we were able to win back enough senators to defeat same-sex marriage. That was the case until the last week of negotiations, when Governor Cuomo got involved personally, meeting with key Democrat and Republican senators. He was able to secure the six votes that won the day for our opposition!
This has left thousands in the faith community (including myself) with a bitterness of soul and righteous anger at the betrayal of the State Senate Republican conference leadership for allowing this bill to come for a vote, instead of proposing a referendum so the people of NY State could vote on this issue, as has been done in 31 other states. (When the people vote statewide, same-sex marriage has been defeated every time!)
As it stands now, a small minority of the population was able to influence 33 State Senators, which changed the law for millions of New Yorkers without any of us having the chance to vote our conscience! The governor is not being truthful when he says he wants the people to vote their conscience since he has not allowed the majority of citizens in our great state to voice our opinion!
Well, as far as our coalition is concerned, the war has only begun! They may have won the battle but they have not yet won the war! The same thing happened in Maine: legislators voted for same-sex marriage but a few years later, when the people had a chance to vote, a referendum was passed to repeal it.
We are now building an even larger coalition to push for a referendum and let the people vote in New York State, as well as educating concerned citizens and bringing about a change of leadership, making the senators who betrayed us pay for it in the next election! You will soon be hearing about our plans to rattle the current political system and rally popular support to “LET THE PEOPLE VOTE!”
The following are some reasons why New York lost the same-sex marriage battle:
1. The majority of Evangelical leadership and Evangelical denominations remained silent while the battle raged!
Although we have perhaps the most diverse and one of the largest coalitions of clergy in the nation, we needed help from every denominational head and the senior pastors of the largest Evangelical churches to push back pressure from the media, governor, mayor and City Council speaker. But most clergy were silent!
I am now receiving many calls from pastors and leaders who are outraged. But I am wondering, where were they when we were calling on the church to make calls and lobby senators?
2. Almost all the major newspapers in NY City were pressuring the senators to vote in favor of same-sex marriage while conservative media talk show hosts were mostly silent!
For example, every day the New York Daily News ran stories and editorials pushing for same-sex marriage. The NY Times also very actively pushed for it. At the same time, there seemed to be a gag order on some of the top radio talk show hosts who mostly ignored this issue! If some of the more famous talk show hosts rallied against same-sex marriage we would have easily defeated it. But their silence showed they didn’t care much about this issue.
3. It seemed obvious that the mayor of NY City, the speaker of the City Council, and the governor of the State of NY were in collusion to pressure the senators to vote in favor of same-sex marriage.
The mayor even offered financial support to those senators who changed their vote and supported the same-sex marriage bill.
4. Some of the top Republican donors pressured the senators to vote for same-sex marriage.
Some of these donors either have gay friends or family, or are libertarian and believe the government should allow people to do whatever they want. Thus, they were strongly in favor of same-sex marriage. In this they are mistaken because a principle is a principle, whether you have a gay family member or not. Also, same-sex marriage will enlarge the state and federal governments: When a family structure that excludes either a mother or father is normalized, it leads to the further disintegration of the family unit, thus making it likely more children will grow up dysfunctional and dependent on government handouts and entitlements. (For example, approximately 85% of all men incarcerated in our country have an absentee father!)
The libertarians in conservative ranks are the Trojan horse of the conservative movement because they do not take a moral stand regarding legislative issues about family values.
5. The sex abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church have weakened their moral authority and influence in state politics.
Our coalition is large and will only become larger with time because of our current battle. But the Roman Catholic Church has been the major religious institution in our state far longer than any current Evangelical coalition, and has been the major bulwark against our opponents regarding sanctity of life issues, traditional marriage, and family values.
Perhaps what we are seeing now is a changing of the guard: NY City going from a Catholic paradigm city to more of an Evangelical paradigm or ecumenical paradigm city. Be that as it may, the Christian Church must unite with an ecumenical approach to overturn this insidious law! Maybe one of the good things coming out of these culture wars is that the church will unite in spirit for the sake of the Kingdom of God!
6. The Republican Majority Leader, Dean Skelos, allowed same-sex marriage to be voted on.
The speaker showed a lack of leadership by allowing this bill to come to a vote. Same-sex marriage was roundly defeated less than two years ago. Thus, there was no reason why he had to allow another vote. Former majority leaders would never have allowed a vote on same-sex marriage had it not been assured that it would be defeated!
Also, it is very common for Democratic leaders to sit on bills and not allow a vote if they think a bill goes against their platform. Skelos and the others in the Senate Republican leadership will receive much negative backlash for this; many are now targeting them to be voted out of office.
7. Many Evangelical and Christian senators in both parties voted against their values.
I have said this many times and it has never been more appropriate to say: What we don’t need are more Christian politicians but an increase in Christian politics! We have plenty of Christians in NY politics. The sad truth is this: There were MANY Christians who sold us down the river and voted for same-sex marriage!
I personally know many of the senators who had a part in passing same-sex marriage. At least one of the leading senate voices in favor of same-sex marriage has Bibles, Christian CDs and teachings in his office, and talks about his faith in Christ. Yet he led the fight for same-sex marriage on the floor of the senate! Many of them have been raised with traditional values and attend Roman Catholic, Baptist, AME, or Evangelical churches! If all of the Christian senators voted biblically, same-sex marriage would never have a chance! (Even Governor Cuomo calls himself a Roman Catholic!)
This shows us that even Christians will compromise their values for the sake of political expediency. We in the church must hold them accountable!
In conclusion, the battle has just begun! I pray those Christian leaders who were asleep at the wheel, and the numerous denominations that were silent, will join us in this fight to win back the soul of our city, state and nation! May the sleeping giant, the church, wake up!
Bishop Joseph Mattera has been in full-time ministry since 1980 and is currently the Presiding Bishop of Christ Covenant Coalition and Overseeing Bishop of Resurrection Church in Brooklyn, NY, a multiethnic congregation of 40 nationalities that has successfully developed numerous leaders and holistic ministry in the NY region and beyond. www.josephmattera.org
The views expressed are solely those of the writer.
