Sex and the City star Cynthia
Nixon and New York Rangers winger Sean Avery traveled to the New York
Statehouse on Tuesday to lobby lawmakers to vote for a gay marriage
bill.
Avery became the highest-profile
professional athlete to endorse the institution when he
recorded a 30-second video ad for the Human
Rights Campaign's (HRC) New Yorkers for Marriage Equality
campaign. He's since been joined by former
Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, Phoenix
Suns point guard Steve Nash and Giants
owner Steve Tisch.
When Nixon, who is gay and would like
to marry her girlfriend in the Empire State, was asked by a reporter
what would she say to lawmakers whose decision against the proposal
was based on politics, she answered: “Gay rights is here. And if
you don't understand that gay people are human and that they deserve
to be treated equally as everybody else, you're back in the dark
ages. And that is not going to stand you in good stead in local
politics or national politics or any kind of politics. Increasingly,
I think some of the homophobic comments of the other side that used
to stir people up, voters are not buying that anymore. And I think
if you really want to have a political future, you have to be for
civil rights for everybody.”
Nixon added that waiting to get married
has been an emotional process for her and her family.
Avery, who is considered an agitator in
the hockey ring, attempted to prod undecided lawmakers to vote for
the measure.
“If you're on the fence, or you're a
little bit nervous about being OK with it, that's fine,” Avery
said. “That's why I'm here to get that point across, and help as
much as I can. I'm going to shore up a couple of votes, and do it as
kindly and gently as I can.” (The video is embedded in the right
panel of this page.)
On Tuesday, after Governor Andrew Cuomo
formally introduced the measure, five undecided senators, two
Republicans and three Democrats, who
had voted against a similar bill in 2009 reversed course, and said
they would vote for marriage equality. With a vote expected to
take place as early as Thursday, proponents have managed to close a
wide gap in a very short period of time, but remain 1 vote shy of
victory.