New York State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr.
has called for a rally against an effort to legalize gay marriage in
the state.
Five gay rights groups, including gay
GOP group Log Cabin Republicans, have banded together to form New
Yorkers United for Marriage. Governor Andrew Cuomo's office will
spearhead the effort.
In a statement released on Thursday,
Diaz, considered the Senate's most ardent opponent of marriage
equality, said he was “deeply offended” by the new push.
“I am deeply offended that during
this Holy Week, which is a most sacred time to millions of New
Yorkers, Governor Andrew Cuomo is working hard to mobilize elected
officials to legalize homosexual marriage in New York,” said Diaz.
“Now Governor Cuomo is targeting communities of faith in an effort
to redefine marriage.”
On Friday, the called on the religious
Hispanic community to rally with him against gay marriage on May 15
in the Bronx. Demonstrators will march from 149th Street
and Third Avenue to 181st Street beginning at noon.
Diaz
said he wanted opponents to “paralyze all traffic in the
Bronx.”
While a large majority of New Yorkers
(58%) support giving gay and lesbian couples the right to marry,
support in the Republican-led Senate, where a similar bill died in
2009, lags behind popular sentiment.