Chelsea Clinton joined advocates this evening in Manhattan to mark the first week of a phonebank campaign to legalize same-sex marriage, and said she hopes that New York will pass a same-sex marriage bill by her anniversary this July.
“As someone who got married last year, it was certainly the happiest day of my life to be able to marry my best friend,” she said of her 2010 wedding to husband Marc Mezvinsky. “I fundamentally believe that every New Yorker, every American, and everyone should have the same right.”
This closely follows Bill Clinton’s latest comments in support of same-sex marriage, which was announced by the New York office of the Human Rights Campaign earlier today. The announcement by the former president marks just how widely accepted the issue has become in the mainstream–Clinton, after all, was the president who signed the Defense of Marriage Act and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell into law–and adds yet more power to the increasingly active movement to get same-sex marriage legislation passed in New York. Every statewide elected official supports it, as does New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Politico said the former president’s comment earlier today “underscores” the fact that “President Obama is increasingly to the right of his party” on this issue.
“I was very grateful that my father gave me yet another reason to be proud,” said the daughter of the former president, standing inside the 1199 SEIU Headquarters on West 42nd Street.
The phonebank is part of a larger campaign by New Yorkers for Marriage Equality, a coalition of gay rights organizations that is now attempting a final push for same-sex marriage by reaching out to supporters in swing districts through the end of the 2011 legislative session. Meanwhile, Cuomo has announced that he’s about to hit the campaign trail to rally support for (among other things) getting gay marriage legislation passed in June.
“I also know, having grown up in politics, that sometimes we need to help politicians do the right things, and that we need to help constituents understand what’s really at stake,” she said. “I know that we’ll get there.”
Now, where’s Hillary Clinton?
