By Heather Grossmann and Serena Solomon
DNAinfo Reporter/Producers
UNION SQUARE — Supporters of the same-sex marriage bill Gov. David Paterson put on the agenda for Tuesday’s extraordinary State Senate session will gather Monday night for a candlelight vigil in Union Square.
Local politicians and residents feel that after 10 years of languishing on the sidelines, it is time for the bill to go to a vote — whether or not it is successful.
“Of course a victory is optimal and would be best, but overall, the vote actually happening is most important,” said Ron Zacchi, the executive director of Marriage Equality New York, an advocacy group committed to legalizing same-sex marriage.
Zacchi said that over 7,000 people had been invited to the event via Facebook and other outlets, and he expects a crowd of hundreds if not thousands of supporters carrying candles and signs.
“It’s a vigil that is a symbolic way of lighting the way to equality,” Zacchi said. “We want to light a clear path for the senate in their vote tomorrow.”
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and representatives from State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick and State Sen. Thomas Duane’s office are expected to address the crowd.
At a press conference earlier in the day, Quinn, who is openly gay, registered an impassioned plea to the State Senate.
“This is literally a moment where people can stand up and say that everybody’s family matters, that everybody’s home is a blessed place, and that everybody has the same rights,” Quinn said.
“That creates hope. It creates moments where New Yorkers like me start thinking about where we would hold the wedding, what the dress would look like.”
The speaker emphasized the significance of the timing of the vote, which is scheduled to take place one week after Maine voters repealed a referendum allowing same-sex marriage.
Stanley Wright, a Battery Park City resident whose partner lives in Connecticut, is skeptical about the fate of the bill in the wake of Maine’s vote.
"I was hopeful until after what happened in Maine. It was just awful,” Wright said.
Wright, who is a retired architect, said that he believed if Manhattan were voting, the bill would pass. “The problem is the rest of the state.”
The bill has passed the Assembly twice and Paterson had hoped to bring the issue to a vote in the last legislative session, but the Senate leadership battle halted the effort.
This time the governor is determined to see the bill make it to the Senate floor.
"If I have to see the legislation fail so I can identify who voted against it to better persuade them, then I’ll take that chance," Paterson told the Web site Towleroad on Sunday.
But there could be hitches in the governor’s plan this time around, too.
State Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., a minister who is against same-sex marriage and says he has his church followers behind him, is making ambiguous threats to fellow Democrats who try to bring the bill to the floor, and State Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. has indicated that he will try and hitch a farm worker’s rights bill to the legislation.
Still, some New Yorkers remain hopeful.
"We’re moving in the right direction," said Cami Capasso, a financial advisor who lives with her girlfriend. "There is a lot more support than there used to be."
Capasso, who got married in Massachusetts and had one of the first gay divorces recognized in the state of New York, said that if the bill does go through, she won’t be rushing to the alter — "Been there done that!"
But she believes marriage equality is essential in the lives of New Yorkers.
“As a financial advisor I know the rights that heterosexual couples have and that gay couples don’t have, and I just don’t think that’s fair,” Capasso said.
Jamie McGonnigal, a performer and activist who leads a group called “Talk About Equality,” said that it is absolutely time for a vote on the same-sex marriage bill regardless of the outcome.
And, while he is very worried about the bill making it that far, he seems optimistic about the bill’s chances once it gets to the Senate floor.
"I think we could be very surprised if it comes to a vote,” McGonnical said, “We have been told we have the votes."
McGonnical is quick to mention that while he is convinced that slowly but surely states will adopt marriage equality laws, he believes it's time for people to start focusing on the federal level.
But he is intent on getting the bill through the State Senate, and he will be at Monday night's vigil to shine a light for State Senators on the right way to vote.
