Marriage equality took another hit today as the New York State Senate failed to pass a bill that would have legalized same-sex marriage in their state. From the NYT:

The bill was defeated by a decisive margin of 38 to 24. The Democrats, who have a bare, one-seat majority, did not have enough votes to pass the bill without some Republican support, but not a single Republican senator voted for the measure..

In a debate that in many instances was cast in unusually personal tones, many senators delivered emotional speeches on the floor of the chamber, equating the struggle for gay rights to the civil rights movement or the battle women have waged for equality.

One of the bill’s sponsors, State Senator Thomas K. Duane of Manhattan, who is gay, said the bill would finally give him something that as a New Yorker he has never enjoyed.

“This legislation would merely provide me and tens of thousands of other New Yorkers with equal rights in New York State,” Mr. Duane said. “It would make me equal in every way to everyone else in this chamber.”

Senator Liz Krueger, a Democrat who represents Manhattan’s Upper East Side and another of the bill’s sponsors, said her grandparents came to the United States to escape persecution against Jews. As a Jew and a woman, Ms. Krueger said her decision to support same-sex marriage was easy to make.

But State Senator Rubén Díaz Sr. of the Bronx made an impassioned argument against same-sex marriage, describing his continued opposition as reflecting the broad consensus that marriage should be limited to a union between a man and woman. “Not only the evangelicals, not only the Jews, not only the Muslims, not only the Catholics, but also the people oppose it,” he said.

Yesterday the NY Assembly had passed the same measure by a 88-51 margin. Unfortunately the Senate vote kills any chance for marriage equality in the state of New York for the foreseeable future.

In an interview published by Gay City News over the weekend, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg put the chances of passing a marriage equality bill in New York at zero.

“I don’t know how to get it to come up,” he said, explaining his view that having the issue move to the Senate floor may prove more difficult than rounding up the votes. “If you want my honest opinion,” Bloomberg continued, the Senate leadership is unlikely to move a gay marriage bill “when I don’t see these guys willing to stand up for less controversial issues.”

Despite the fact that the number of states with legal gay marriage quickly shot up to six this past spring, the mayor said, “I ‘m scared to death that the country is going in the wrong direction… I think on other LGBT issues they are clearly moving in the direction that I think they should go and you probably do too. It’s the marriage thing that I don’t see.”

Even in New York, where Paterson and his predecessor Eliot Spitzer have been outspoken in supporting gay marriage, Bloomberg argued, “Whether anybody who runs for governor next year will stand up for gay marriage, I’ll bet you 25 cents no.”

Though the Democrats did finally achieve a majority in the State Senate last November, the mayor who vows to deliver Republican votes views the composition of the Democratic caucus as a bar to action.

“There are a lot of traditional Democratic communities that are very conservative,” he said. “The black community is very conservative. The Latino. You know, I don’t win any points with these communities when I go in their churches and point out I’m very pro-choice. I’m very pro-gay rights. I’m anti-gun. I’m very pro-immigration. I believe in Darwin.”

Considering the ineptness of the NY State Senate, it’s difficult to disagree with the mayor. So Bloomberg is seeking a third term… as a Republican. A gay loving, pro-choice, anti-gun, pro-immigration and evolution believing Republican.

Is the end near?

At 12:01 AM Eastern Standard Time, Bob Sullivan and Bill Slimback became the first same-sex couple to exchange their vows as gay marriage became legal in Vermont.

Dressed in suits, saying their vows under a large wall-mounted moose head, the two Whitehall, N.Y., men promised their love, exchanged rings and held hands during a modest 17-minute ceremony. Moose Meadow Lodge co-owner Greg Trulson, who’s also a Justice of the Peace, presided.

“It feels wonderful,” said Slimback, 38, an out-of-work Teamster who is taking Sullivan’s last name as his own. “It’s a day I’ve been long waiting for, and a day I truly honestly thought would never come.”

Slimback said he and Sullivan, 41, have long wanted to cement their relationship with a wedding, but since they couldn’t legally marry in New York they chose to wed even before Vermont’s gay marriage era officially dawned.

Vermont is one of five states that now allow same-sex couples to marry. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa are the others. New Hampshire’s law takes effect Jan. 1, 2010.

Vermont, which invented civil unions in 2000 after a same-sex couple challenged the inequality of state marriage statutes, was a mecca for gay couples who to that point had no way to officially recognize their relationships.

Since then, other states have allowed gay marriage, as did Vermont, which in April became the first state to legalize gay marriage through a legislative decree and not a court case.

Coverage from the local Fox affiliate below:

The Senate Armed Services Committee has agreed to hold hearings on Don’t Ask, Don’ Tell (DADT) this fall thanks to a commitment secured by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) who is trying to overturn the policy. The agreement comes on the heels of an amendment floated by Sen. Gillibrand two weeks ago which would have placed a temporary moratorium on discharges under DADT. The amendment was never introduced as Gillibrand failed to gather the 60 votes necessary for passage.

This will be first time Congress has evaluated the policy since it was enacted in 1993 under President Clinton. There are also efforts to overturn the DADT in the House under the leadership of Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA), an Iraq war veteran.