3.55PM: New York has narrowly voted to legalise same-sex marriage. It will become the sixth and largest state where gay couples can marry in the USA. "We are leaders and we join other proud states that recognize our families and the battle will now go on in other states," said Senator Thomas Duane, a Democrat. AP reports gay rights advocates are hoping the vote will galvanize the movement around the United States and help it regain momentum after an almost identical bill was defeated in New York in 2009 and similar measures failed in 2010 in New Jersey and this year in Maryland and Rhode Island. Its says though New York is a relative latecomer in allowing gay marriage, it is considered an important prize for advocates, given the state's size and New York City's international stature and its role as the birthplace of the gay rights movement, which is considered to have started with the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village in 1969.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 25th June 2011 - 3:55pm