• 11
  • November
    2011

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is being asked to retract comments allegedly made during a panel discussion a couple weeks ago discussing the marriage equality law that recently went into effect in New York, which greatly expanded those who can get married in New York state.

In October, The New York Times hosted a panel discussion about how New York's marriage equality bill, the Marriage Equality Act, passed the New York state senate, which is currently controlled by Republicans. The Marriage Equality Act was signed into law in June 2011 and went into effect in July 2011. It passed by a vote of 33-29.

One of the attendees at the panel discussion asked how the New York law could impact other state laws. In his response, Cuomo stated that marriage equality was "just a matter of time." When asked whether the arguments made against the enactment of the law were persuasive, Cuomo answered, "Ultimately, there was no answer by the opposition...There isn't. There really isn't. And as soon as you ask the question and you probe the answer, the only answer is, 'I want to discriminate against gay people.' And that is anti-New York. It's also anti-American."

Cuomo's comments have angered many groups, including New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, which is a group made up of evangelical Protestants who oppose the law. In an open letter to Cuomo, the group demanded an apology for the Americans and New Yorkers who oppose the bill who they say were offended by his comments.

So far, Cuomo has not responded to the group's demand for an apology.