9 months ago
Kathleen Mcgriffpowers, her son and daughter are a happy family; with two moms.
It's against state law, but Mcgriffpowers hopes one day she'll be able to call her partner, wife. "Basically, it's a civil rights issue. It's making me a second class citizen. I mean, I'm already African American and I'm already a woman."
You may have seen a television commercial recently asking for your support for same-sex marriage in New York.
Starting this week, a new advertisement hits the air representing the other side of issue.
The National Organization for Marriage asks New Yorkers to keep same-sex marriage off the books.
It warns that school children will be forced to learn about same-sex marriage.
In the commercial, you can hear someone say, "A California public school took first graders to a same-sex wedding, calling it a teachable moment."
Buffalo pastor William Gillison of Mount Olive Baptist feels the debate about marriage is about the potential legal consequences, not civil rights. "What becomes legal as far as same-sex marriage is concerned also becomes legal to teach our children. So, the children are really the target in all of this."
Kitty Lambert is president of Outspoken for Equality in Buffalo.
She doesn't understand why the organization wants to prevent her or anyone else from getting married to their partner, "What's wrong with if catastrophe struck in our life, and the person I love ended up in a hospital. I would want to access to them."
New York Catholic bishops are scheduled to release a statement on its opinion on same-sex marriage Friday. It plans to re-emphasize the importance of not passing the marriage equality bill.
