Exactly. Approve Gay Marriage.
El Diario, the largest Spanish language newspaper in New York, editorialized in favor of same-sex marriage today.
Jimmy Vielkind at the Albany Times-Union blog, Capitol Confidential, has a translation (with a caveat):
(This is my translation; Spanish text is below. Native Spanish speakers should use the comments section to fix mistakes and point to any nuance this gringo missed.)This is excellent. I know we've been down this path before, but I have to say, it feels like there's momentum in New York. It really does. Last month, David Badash pointed out that the latest Siena Poll of New Yorkers showed 54% of Latinos support marriage equality.New York needs and is ready for this change. Our gay population is bigger than the seven nearby jurisdictions (six states plus the District of Columbia) that have legalized same-sex marriage. And close to 60 percent of New Yorkers support gay marriage.
Governor Cuomo’s campaign merits all the the support of the Latino community, including those who are opposed for religious reasons. Officials in this position should remember that they were elected to serve the public (independent of its sexual orientation) under American laws, which were established with a clear distinction between church and state. Latinos should also remember our collective fight is against discrimination and marginalization.
Homosexuality is a human reality. The majority of New Yorkers have a friend, colleague or relative who’s gay. It’s time to give these people the opportunity to develop families and build communities. Our government shouldn’t be in the business of telling the people who to love or who to marry.
Last year, polling showed that in California, Latinos are among the strongest supporters of same-sex marriage. Here's one of the reasons suggested by Georgetown University Professor Joseph Palacios:
Family First: Latino Catholics orient their social lives around the family and extended family even in the context of high Latino single-parent households (estimated 33% of all U.S. Latino households; 36% of all Latino Children in California live in single-parent households). Family solidarity is strong and even though children may not follow "traditional family values" as projected by the church and the U.S. society, parents want to keep their children within the family. It is not surprising that Catholics in general and Latino Catholics in particular, as the Public Religion Research study shows, see that parents learn about gay issues from their children. Their moral and ethical judgments are primarily made through this social reality rather than abstract pronouncements from their church leaders.Family is a key concept to Latino families (I know that from my own relationship.)
