Activists in Mass. revel at N.Y. gay marriage law

June 27, 2011|By Martine Powers, Globe Correspondent

The annual New York City Pride Parade, show here on Fifth Avenue, had even… (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)

As the New York Legislature voted to legalize gay marriage Friday night, the tweets erupting out of Boston were celebratory and a little smug.

“Congrats, 2011 NY, for finally catching up to 2004 Massachusetts!’’ wrote a user named Sajizzle.

“So glad NY joined the other states for #MarriageEquality,’’ GHFanatic91 said. “Proud to be from the first state that approved it.’’

And from Pistachio: “Dear NY State, welcome to the future of civil rights. Love, Massachusetts et al. PS-California we’ll save you a seat. Txt when you get here?’’

Gay marriage activists and supporters in Massachusetts responded with elation this weekend as New York became the sixth and largest state in the country to legalize same-sex marriage. Celebrating at home or at the annual New York City Pride Parade yesterday, Bostonians said they were pleased to know that the Bay State, the first to legalize gay marriage, played an important role in the lead-up to Friday’s vote.

“People see that when gays and lesbians get married and start families, the sky doesn’t fall,’’ said Kara Suffredini, executive director of MassEquality, an activist group.

Suffredini said that legalization of gay marriage in Massachusetts was significant because it allowed individuals in other states, especially critics of gay marriage, to gain an understanding of the real-world effects that gay marriage has on communities.

“They see that marriage equality is good for families and good for communities, and that has implications nationwide,’’ Suffredini said.

Robyn Ochs, a speaker and educator, agreed. Often, detractors of gay marriage are “afraid of the unknown,’’ she said.

“When you look at New England and see that Massachusetts and Vermont and Connecticut and New Hampshire have marriage equality, that makes it easier for people to imagine it in New York,’’ Ochs said.

According to polls conducted by Quinnipiac University, 37 percent of New Yorkers approved of legalizing same-sex marriage in 2004, the year that Massachusetts started allowing same-sex marriages. That figure increased to 58 percent this year.

Ochs, who lives in Jamaica Plain, said she spent all of Friday night at her computer watching a live stream of the New York Senate proceedings. When the last vote rang out, she experienced “absolute, delirious joy,’’ she said.

“I held my breath through the whole thing,’’ she said. “When the vote came out, I burst into tears and finally started breathing.’’

Ochs, a founder of the Boston-based Bisexual Resource Center, had a special reason to become emotional about the New York vote: She was born and raised in New York and most of her immediate family still lives there.