Gay Rites Plan Sparks a Power Struggle

ALBANY —Governor Spitzer's plan to introduce a bill to legalize gay marriage has sparked a behind-the-scenes power struggle between two gay Assembly members and a lawmaker who has been married to a woman for 36 years.

The three lawmakers are vying for the claim of sponsorship of what could be a historical piece of legislation, fueling an internal debate in the chamber about whether the bill ought to be carried by a member of the gay and lesbian community or by a non-homosexual lawmaker who has been an early champion of gay marriage.

The gay lawmakers, Daniel O'Donnell and Deborah Glick, are trying to wrest control of the legislation from Richard Gottfried, a Manhattan resident who has been the prime sponsor of a gay marriage bill in the Assembly since 2003.

Following through on a campaign promise, Mr. Spitzer said this week he would submit to the legislature a bill to legalize gay marriage before the legislative session concludes in June.

The bill would most likely supplant the legislative versions and then have to be introduced in both the Senate and the Assembly by lead sponsors. In the Senate, Thomas Duane, a gay member of the Democratic minority conference, is expected to take the lead. Who carries the measure in the Assembly is an open question that will most likely be settled by the speaker, Sheldon Silver.

Mr. Gottfried, a lawyer who was first elected in 1970 at age 23, is thought to be closer to Mr. Silver, who made him chairman of the health committee. Mr. Silver may not want to alienate Mr. O'Donnell, a lawyer, and Ms. Glick, two well-known members of Manhattan's gay community. The two lawmakers dropped out as co-sponsors of Mr. Gottfried's bill this year.

Mr. O'Donnell and his partner were among the dozens of couples who unsuccessfully sued to win marriage rights in a case decided by the Court of Appeals last year.

"I certainly believe that someone's ability to be affected by the piece of legislation is a very important component when trying to discuss it," Mr. O'Donnell, the first openly gay man in the Assembly and the brother of television personality Rosie O'Donnell, said. "As a person who was the plaintiff in the lawsuit to get married, and if permitted would get married, I am able to talk about it and articulate it in a way that's personal and subjective — not just objective, and it's the right thing to do."

Mr. Gottfried, whose bill in the Assembly has 42 sponsors, said his being a married man demonstrates to other colleagues that the idea of expanding the legal definition of marriage is gaining more widespread support. "The issue is strengthened by the fact that one lead sponsor is a legislator barred from marriage and another is a legislator that has been married for 36 years," he said.

Other supporters of the bill in the Assembly said they were divided on the issue. "The different parties should get their act together so we can move forward on this piece of legislation," a Democratic lawmaker said.

Among those in the gay and lesbian community who are closely following the legislative progress, opinion is mixed, according to a spokesman for the Empire State Pride Agenda, a gay rights group that has lobbied aggressively for same-sex marriage.

"Some people say it should be an openly gay official, and some people also say that a straight legislator carrying a gay bill also signals to other legislators that this issue enjoys broad support," the spokesman, Joseph Tarver, said. "They really at the end of the day don't care. They care about someone who will fight to pass the bill."

It's not unusual in Albany for lawmakers to be competitive about taking ownership of a piece of legislation. While there can be many co-sponsors attached to a bill, there may be only one prime sponsor, a status that allows the lawmaker to play a greater role in developing the language and to take more credit for its passage.

The high profile and historic potential of a New York gay marriage bill has intensified the jockeying. While the names of the prime sponsors of the legislation would not likely go down in American history like McCain, Feingold, Sarbanes, Oxley, Smoot, or Hawley, they would be most associated with the effort to change the state's marriage laws, other than Mr. Spitzer.

If signed into law, New York would be the first state in the nation to legalize gay marriage through a legislative process and the second state in the nation — after Massachusetts — to extend marriage to same-sex couples.

Three other states, Vermont, Connecticut, and New Jersey, have recognized civil unions, which confer legal rights that marriage couples receive but are criticized by gay rights group as a second-class alternative. California and Washington have signed domestic partnership laws, entitling some legal protection.

The chances that the bill will pass the Legislature this year are dim. Many lawmakers in both houses, particularly in the Republican Senate majority, are firmly opposed to gay marriage or don't want to risk the political consequences of taking a stance on such a polarizing issue. Support for same-sex marriage appears to be stronger in the Assembly, but still below the threshold to persuade Mr. Silver, the speaker, to bring the measure to the floor.