A governor cannot actually introduce legislation, but he can suggest legislation through a vehicle known as a "governor’s program bill". The governor still needs to seek a sponsor in each house, or the bill cannot be acted upon.

Governor Paterson had no difficulty obtaining sponsors. The Senate sponsor is Senator Tom Duane (D – Manhattan) and the Assembly sponsor is Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell (D – Manhattan). Both men are avowed homosexuals. The bills are identical in each house of the legislature, but only the Assembly has taken any action at this time.

Asm. Benjamin (D - Bronx) defended traditional marriage in debate

The Assembly bill, A7732, has 15 sponsors, with Mr. O’Donnell being the prime sponsor. The bill also has 39 cosponsors for a total of 54 sponsors. The Senate version of the bill, S4401, has a total of 19 sponsors and cosponsors, with Senator Duane being the prime sponsor.

The 15 Assembly sponsors are: O’Donnell, Gottfried, Glick, Titone, Kellner, Silver, Bing, Rosenthal, Jeffries, Dinowitz, John, Kavanagh, DenDekker, Schimel, and Sayward. Sayward is the only Republican in the sponsorship. The cosponsors in the Assembly are M. Alessi, Aubry, Boyland, Bradley, Brennan, Brodsky, Cahill, Cook, Duprey, Eddington, Englebright, Farrell, Fields, Gianaris, Hevesi, Hoyt, Jaffee, Lancman, Latimer, Lavine, Lentol, Lifton, V. Lopez, Lupardo, McEneny, Millman, Nolan, Ortiz, Paulin, Peralta, Pretlow, J. Rivera, N. Rivera, Sweeney, Towns, Weisenberg, Weprin, Wright, and Zebrowski.

The same-sex marriage legislation is a relatively brief bill, adding a new section to the Domestic Relations Law dealing with the sex of parties seeking marriage. The bill text states, "A marriage that is other wise valid shall be valid regardless of whether the parties to the marriage are of the same sex or different sex." They also state that no application for a marriage license shall be denied on the grounds that the parties are of the same or different sex. There is an extremely narrow religious exemption in the bill, for clergy only. The exemption says that no clergyman or minister shall be required to solemnize any marriage when acting in his or her capacity under this subdivision.

There has been a lot of lobbying going on concerning this issue since it was first introduced and that lobbying will continue until the legislature finishes its legislative session, near the end of June. Since the Assembly has passed this legislation by a vote of 89 to 52, all lobbying efforts on this issue are targeted at the State Senate. The Senate has historically, under Republican control, refused to allow a vote on the legislation. The question now is whether or not the new Senate Majority Democratic Party will try to take up the legislation.

In the Senate the legislation, S4401, is sponsored by Senators Duane, Adams, Breslin, Dilan, Espada, C. Johnson, Klein, Krueger, Montgomery, Oppenheimer, Parker, Perkins, Savino, Schneiderman, Serrano, Squadron, Stavisky, Stewart-Cousins, and Thompson. The Senate sponsors are all Democrats from New York City and the surrounding area except two, Breslin from Albany and Thompson from Buffalo.

If same-sex marriage were to pass, the infringement upon religious freedom concerns many Christians. Religious-operated organizations, Christian business owners, and individual believers are not granted religious exemptions. The legislation would require that they recognize same-sex marriage and its benefits, even though it may violate the organization, business, or individual’s core religious convictions.

A Christian judge would be forced to preside over same-sex marriages. County clerks would be required to issue same sex marriage licenses that violate their beliefs. Wedding florists, photographers, caterers, banquet hall owners, and others would all be required to provide their services to same-sex couples in violation of their consciences, or cease doing business in New York State. There are at least two adoption agencies (one operating in New York State) that have ceased to connect parents with children in need, because they would have to provide adoptions to same-sex couples against their religious convictions.

Another major concern is the impact this legislation would have upon children, grandchildren and future generations. Once a state has legalized homosexual marriages, the state’s public school system is obligated to teach that such arrangements are acceptable and normal part of our culture. Public school textbooks will be rewritten to accommodate, and promote, the homosexual lifestyle. Children in the public schools will be indoctrinated with this information without parental knowledge. Teachers, seeking to advance a liberal, ideological agenda, would be free to discuss, teach and promote the homosexual lifestyle.

Some argue that this will not happen, and that opponents of same-sex marriage are practicing hyperbole; parents in Massachusetts beg to differ. In one high school, less than a month after the court legalized same sex marriage, an assembly to celebrate same- sex marriage was held. Within a year, homosexuality was openly promoted throughout the school system (including the elementary grades). In a little over a year, text books were rewritten to include references to homosexual marriage and the gay lifestyle.

Asm. Hikind (D - Brooklyn) cited the Torah as a reason to oppose gay marriage.

On May 12, 2009, the Assembly debate and vote on A7732 took four hours and ten minutes. There was very little debate; it was mainly speeches promoting same-sex marriage, and encouragement for the homosexual community. Twenty-four Democrats spoke in favor of the legislation as did three Republicans (Miller, Dupre, and Thiele). Three Republicans (Quinn, Fitzpatrick, and Tedisco) spoke against the legislation and asked questions of the sponsor. Two Democrats (Benjamin and Hikind) spoke against the legislation and asked questions of the sponsor. One Republican, Boyle, did not ask questions, but said there needs to be a Constitutional Amendment on the issue, not mere legislation.

Those speaking for legalizing same-sex marriage were Assemblypersons O’Donnell, Brodsky, Titone (another open homosexual), Schroeder, Miller, Hevesi, Duprey, Galef, Lentol, Glick (the first elected open lesbian), Thiele, Reilly, McEneny, Weprin, Skartados, Gottfried, Zebrowski, Gunther, Kellner (the only open bisexual legislator), J. Rivera, Eddington, Jeffries, Jaffee, Powell, Lavine, Ortiz, and Cahill.

The debate was mostly one sided, with twenty-four Assembly Democrats and three Assembly Republicans speaking for the legislation and only five Members of the Assembly speaking against the bill.
The legislation passed by a vote of 89 to 52, with seven members absent and two Assembly seats vacant. The vote was bipartisan, as seventeen Democrats voted against the legislation and five Republicans voted for it.

During the vote there were fifteen legislators who spoke briefly to explain their vote and they were all in favor of the legislation. Two Democrats who were against the legislation explained their vote.

Assemblywoman Sayward and sponsor O’Donnell were called to close the debate. Mrs. Sayward talked about homosexuality and how it is not a sin and that marriage has evolved over the years and this is part of that evolution of marriage. She also stated that when she voted for this legislation two years ago, she was told that she could not get reelected in her conservative Adirondack district. But she did and ran without an opponent in the last election.

Assemblyman O’Donnell’s closing remarks pointed to the fact that everyone that voted for this legislation in 2007 got reelected and are back in the Assembly to vote on the bill again. In other words, the way one votes on this issue did not affect their electability (according to O’Donnell). He went on to say that no one in the United States has ever lost an election because of their vote on this issue, and he claims that because there is a separation of church and state this legislation will have no effect upon churches, this is just an equality issue, and all he wants is a piece of paper – a marriage license.