The good news on the same sex marriage issue is that the Assembly in New York yesterday passed a bill legalizing same sex marriage in the state. They’ve passed a similar bill before, only to be rebuffed by the New York Senate, but this time they got more votes, a huge 89-52 margin. If the New York Senate passes the bill it will be signed by Governor Patterson. From the New York Times:

The State Assembly approved legislation on Tuesday night that would make New York the sixth state to allow same-sex marriage — a pivotal vote that shifts the debate to the State Senate, where gay rights advocates and conservative groups alike are redoubling their efforts.

In a sign of how opinion in Albany has shifted on the issue, several members of the Assembly who voted against the measure in 2007 voted in favor of it on Tuesday.

The final vote was 89 to 52, including the backing of five Republicans.

Supporters of the bill aggressively sought new votes, particularly from Assembly members whose districts lie within Senate districts where a senator’s vote is believed to be in play. As a matter of strategy, same-sex marriage advocates said that they hoped to use those votes as a way to leverage support from senators who are worried that supporting the measure could cost them politically.

“The margin of victory and the balance of where the people come from who voted for this is broadening,” said Daniel J. O’Donnell, a Democratic assemblyman from the Upper West Side who led the effort in the Assembly to gain support for the bill. “The state is demanding that we provide equality, and that’s the message here.”

Of course there are whiners and alarmists in the Rick Santorum mode, moaning about the slippery slope. The New York Times quotes James Tedisco, who just lost a special election for Congress in New York. He was on the wrong side of that vote and he’s one the wrong side on this one.

Opponents of the bill condemned same-sex marriage as a moral outrage and an affront to religious institutions in New York. Some, like James N. Tedisco, a Republican whose district includes Schenectady and Saratoga Springs, drew comparisons to polygamy.

“I think you can see the kind of slippery slope we’re going down here,” he said. “What I see here is individuals trying to change the definition of a longstanding institution called marriage to fit into their agenda.”

The slippery slope argument simply isn’t working with rational people, and that’s the bottom line. Tedisco’s alarmist whines are making him more of a small man than did his loss in the election this spring to Scott Murphy. As I recall that race, Tedisco appealed the results at noon or so on the day of the election itself, several hours before the polls closed. Yeah, he made himself a fool. Even Republicans have seen this, shoving him out of the Minority Leader position in the New York Assembly. This man is of the old mold of Republicans. Heck, even John Cornyn is embracing gay Repubs.

OK, I think this is mere pragmatic politics and not an endorsement of gay candidates. Cornyn is merely ignoring the notion that Charlie Crist is gay because he thinks Crist can save a Senate seat for the GOP in Florida. Pragmatics beats the anti-gay GOP agenda in this time when they are losing elections left and right. Hey, and Crist plays a good game of closet-hiding, so Cornyn can with a straight face endorse Crist even though the exteremist Republicans are backing Rubio in Florida. Of course, it should be remembered that Cornyn’s own version of the slippery slope that we’ll confront after legalization of gay marriage includes box turtles. Yes, box turtles. Maybe James Tedisco can take Cornyn’s lead in trying to stop passage of the gay marriage bill in the New York Senate. A good laugh is always welcome.