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From Albany to Plattsburgh
Posted in Right to Marry: Northern Route by Matt Hill Comer on July 20th, 2007
Originally written by Cat Forrester
We left Albany and headed to Fort Edward to meet with Assemblyman Roy McDonald. However, he was not available to speak with us, so we spoke with his chief of staff, Mark Luciano. It was a fairly frustrating meeting, as Mark assured us that he understood and respected our cause, but still suggested that we should take a different tactic, faulting “touchy-feely” reasons, such as the relationship component of marriage, for the failure of the bill to be heard in the Senate or strongly supported in the Assembly. He also urged us to understand that while our struggle was totally valid, the political process and “the system” were working against us and offered to help advise us on how to improve our campaign.
We tried to convey to Mr. Luciano that the mission of Soulforce Q and of the Right to Marry Campaign is not solely to encourage the passage of this bill, but rather to talk to New Yorkers about marriage equality, and to change the hearts and minds of those opposed to equality in New York State.
Meeting with Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward in Glens Falls was a welcome follow-up to our meeting at Assemblyman McDonald’s office. Sayward was one of only four Republicans to vote yes on the marriage equality bill, and the only Republican co-sponsor. We brought her a vase of flowers in shades of purple and pink to show our appreciation of her support. She spoke to us about her gay son and shared her conviction that once you accept the premise that being GLBT is not a choice, it becomes clear that marriage equality is a civil rights issue and not a moral or religious issue. Meeting with her was both encouraging and inspiring.
After leaving Assemblywoman Sayward’s office, we piled in the van and headed to Plattsburgh, where we would be staying at the house of Jen and Staci and their daughter Amelia, who were offering up their home to us although they were out of town. Their friend Amanda let us into the house, pointing out the vegetable garden and the cat, O’Malley. Their house is beautiful and charming, and we have been infused with a new passion to help people like Staci, Jen and Amelia to be able to protect their family.