gerisullivan | Huzzah, New York!

I became a resident of Massachusetts on Friday, May 14, 2004. It is a point of lasting pleasure and satisfaction that I went to the Wales Town Offices on Monday, May 17, to register my business on the very same day same-sex marriage became legal in the Commonwealth. Today, I join so many of my friends and all others celebrating yesterday's vote in the state senate and Gov. Andrew Cuomo's signature legalizing same-sex marriage in New York.

My pleasure magnified three-fold by the words and actions of a Republican, a Democrat, and a Seventh-Day Adventist pastor, all sharing my understanding of and commitment to the separation of church and state.

As reported on nycapitolnews.com:

Castro, who represents a western Bronx district, is the only Seventh-Day Adventist in the state’s legislature. Raised Catholic in the Dominican Republic, Castro voted “no” on a same-sex marriage bill in 2009 for religious reasons, but talks with gay activists, constituents and his pastor changed his mind this year, he said.

With his pastor, Castro “spoke about the fact that I thought it was the right thing to do. But religiously I was definitely torn. He said to me, ‘Look, civically, you have a responsibility to represent your community. That has nothing to do with God.’”

“The issue here is literally of religious freedom,” Cuomo said to reporters Friday afternoon. “This is not about marriage in a religious term. This is a civil law issue, and we want to make sure we keep it separate.”

He added, “I happen to be a Catholic, and that’s my business. That’s my religion. This is about marriage as defined by government not by religion.”

Exactly.

Well done, New York. Very well done!