New York Assembly passed marriage equality today. Up next, GOP-controlled Senate

We've been following the New York marriage debate pretty closely at AMERICAblog Gay. Today, the Assembly passed the marriage bill, sponsored by Danny O'Donnell, by a vote of 80 - 63. Danny was eloquent on the Assembly floor. He said, among other things, "When push comes to shove, this is about equality." Yep.

The big battle is in the State Senate, where we lost in December of 2009. We need 32 votes to win in that body, which has 32 Republicans and 30 Democrats. Currently, we've got 31 Senate supporters. Three Democrats who voted no in 2009 are now on board. Only one Democrat will vote no. Two Senate Republicans, James Alesi and Roy McDonald, have stated they'll vote yes.

We just need one more GOPer to vote yes. If you live in New York, call your Senators and ask them to vote yes for equality. The Empire State Pride Agenda makes it easy. Call first thing in the morning. Get your friends and family in New York to do it, too.

Expectations are that there will be a Senate vote on Friday, although the Senate GOP conference hasn't made a decision on that. They'll be meeting again tomorrow. The session ends on Monday.

The Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has actually been a fierce advocate. He's not just talking. He's fully engaged.

As you can imagine, the anti-gay forces, led by the Catholic Church and NOM, are in overdrive trying to defeat the marriage bill in the Senate. They know how significant a win in New York will be for our momentum.

This could be a huge win. Stay tuned....and make a call.