Activists in New York are pressing ahead with plans to push for the legalization of gay marriage, despite a November 2 GOP takeover of the state Senate.

“It's becoming clear that there is going to be a change in leadership in the New York State Senate to the Republican Party,” Ross D. Levi, executive director of the gay rights group Empire State Pride Agenda, said in a statement on Thursday. “Some have speculated that this means an end to progress we will be able to make on LGBT issues here in New York, but I couldn't disagree more.”

Levi suggested that a successful campaign to unseat two incumbent anti-gay marriage senators should serve as warning for lawmakers.

“Senators new and old will now be asking themselves whether they want the strength of our community used against them in the same way two short years from now if they vote against equality for their LGBT constituents,” he wrote.

Last year, a bill that would have legalized gay marriage had the backing of Governor David Paterson and it easily passed in the Assembly, but failed in the Senate by eight votes.

During the campaign, Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said he wanted to be the governor that signs the legislation into law. Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino, on the other hand, was severely criticized for his objections to the institution.