Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch told
MSNBC's Thomas Roberts on Thursday that Republicans will regret
blocking a vote on a gay marriage bill.
GOP leaders in the New York Senate on
Wednesday and again on Thursday discussed behind closed doors whether
to bring a proposed gay marriage bill to the floor for a vote.
On Wednesday, the Assembly easily
approved the measure, providing momentum for the issue and notching
up the pressure on the Senate to act. Lawmakers in the 62-member
Senate are evenly divided on the measure. A tie would mean a second
defeat in the chamber in as many years for proponents.
Koch, who
earlier in the year recorded a video ad urging New Yorkers to support
Governor Andrew Cuomo's plan to make New York the sixth – and most
populous – state to legalize gay marriage, discussed the
measure as a footnote during an interview on MSNBC.
When host Thomas Roberts asked Koch for
reaction on the bill, the 86-year-old lifelong bachelor responded:
“Well, I have been, and continue to be, a supporter of same-sex
marriage, because it's simply unfair that if you are a heterosexual
couple you get 1,000 benefits under the federal law, primarily tax
benefits, and if you are a same-sex couple living together you get
zippo.”
Koch went on to say Republicans would
regret blocking the vote.
“I think that they will rue the day
if they don't allow a vote to take place and if the votes aren't
there to pass it,” he
said.