NEW YORK — Gov. David Paterson introduced a bill Thursday to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, comparing the effort to the fight for the abolition of slavery.
Paterson, whose job approval rating has plunged below 30 percent, is making a political gamble that he can ride the momentum of other states that have allowed the practice.
The proposal is the same bill that the Democratic-controlled state Assembly passed in 2007 before it died in the Senate, where the GOP majority kept it from going to a vote. Democrats now control the Senate.
In announcing the bill, Paterson was joined by New York City Mayor Michael Bloom berg and other elected city officials, as well as gay-rights advocates.
Meanwhile, State Sen. Ruben Diaz of the Bronx, also a Democrat but an opponent of same-sex marriage, met with religious leaders to discuss how to block the bill.
