Supporters of gay marriage in New York
are cheering the appointment of Erik Bottcher, New York City Council
Speaker Christine Quinn's liaison to the gay community, to the
governor’s cabinet.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has named
Bottcher to the newly created post of special assistant for community
affairs, the
New York Daily News reported.
“Erik's intellect and experience will
be an invaluable asset in the fight to restore New York as the
progressive capital of the nation,” Cuomo said.
Bottcher served as Cuomo's liaison to
the gay community during last year's race.
Gay activists say the appointment is
proof Cuomo intends to make good on his campaign promise to fight for
marriage equality in the Empire State. As a candidate, the
53-year-old former attorney general said he wanted to be the governor
that signs a gay marriage bill into law.
Empire State Pride Agenda Executive
Director Ross Levi suggested that Cuomo is preparing to take a page
from Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee's playbook. Chafee
argues that Rhode Island would benefit economically from legalizing
gay marriage.
“The more the governor needs to act
as a fiscal conservative, the more I think he will be having to live
up to that plank in his State of the State to make New York a
'progressive' state again,” Levi told the paper.
Voters in New York handed the New York
Senate to Republicans on November 2, dimming the prospects that
lawmakers will approve such a bill in the near future.