Sen. Roy McDonald: the right call for the right reasons

What made me proud to be a constituent of State Senator Roy McDonald wasn’t his public proclamation that he would be the 31st confirmed vote for gay marriage on the floor of the Senate. Rather, it was the fallout and what he told Times Union reporter Jimmy Vielkind:

“I’m not out to alienate anybody. This is driven by compassion,” the Saratoga Republican said. “I’m not out to hurt some gay guy, gay woman. Live your lifestyle. That’s not my lifestyle, but God bless ‘em — it’s America. Be nice to people, and let’s all just live our lives.”

….

“I’m not one of these guys that lives and dies, at this age of my life, for politics,” he said. “I’ve accomplished more than the average guy around here. I’m going to go and see my family when I leave here. I’m going to go, turn around, and if I get out of politics I’ll be a professional like I’ve been in the past. I’ll make money. My grandchildren will have money to help them through the problems they have. I’ll go play golf, see my wife and spend time with my three kids and grandkids.”

Even better, though, is what he told New York Times Albany bureau chief Danny Hakim:

“F*** it, I don’t care what you think, I’m trying to do the right thing.”

Right. On.

Admittedly, my first reaction to the news that McDonald had changed his vote was a bit cynical. I was reminded of the words of Congressman Steven Derounian, who dissented from his fellow committee members on the Subcommittee for Legislative Oversight that was investigating the quiz show scandals of the 1950s, telling the lauded academic Charles Van Doren that he didn’t think “an adult of [his] intelligence ought to be commended for telling the truth.”

Yet here was McDonald going even further: not only was he declaring his vote, but disavowing his previous votes and damning the consequences.

It matters to me that those remaining Senators who are “undecided” join suit, but it matters more that they do so because like McDonald they could not reconcile any other choice with their conscience.

The bill is expected to come up for vote on Friday. My hope is that history will finally be made and, at long last, New York can lead the way in steering us away from intolerance and injustice. If it doesn’t, though, I’ll still be proud of Roy McDonald, and he’s still proven himself to be the kind of person who not only deserves but demands my vote and recognition.

In the interest of keeping things “fair and balanced,” there is evidence that the institution of marriage is, as opponents insist, dissolving in the face of this issue:

My God. What have we done?