Badass Quote: Republican snaps for gay marriage

Sen. Roy McDonald (R-NY)

Last Wednesday, I wrote about how the State of New York had come one step closer towards finally legalizing same-sex marriage, mostly due to a (small but critical) number of Senate Republicans promising to break with party lines and vote “yes” on the bill. One of the senators mentioned was Roy McDonald, R-Saratoga, but the article didn’t mention in just what brilliant fashion he bucked with his party in:

[Archbishop Timothy] Dolan equated the move to allow same-sex marriage to life in China or North Korea, where "government presumes daily to 'redefine' rights, relationships, values and natural law."

"Please, not here!," Dolan wrote. "We cherish true freedom, not as the license to do whatever we want, but the liberty to do what we ought."

The opposition from Dolan, other religious groups and conservative political outfits threatening retribution at the ballot box has turned the Senate into a pressure cooker for Republicans.

And McDonald snapped.

"You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn't black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing," McDonald, 64, told reporters.

"You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, f--- it, I don't care what you think. I'm trying to do the right thing.

"I'm tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I'm trying to do the right thing, and that's where I'm going with this."

At least four of McDonald's fellow Republicans are considering voting for the bill, prompting widespread optimism that the Legislature is about to cross the threshold of history.

It’s become so rare for me to find occasion to actually cheer for a Republican. It feels wonderful when it happens. And an additional glimpse at his voting record establishes him as a true moderate Republican; there are undoubtedly more than a few Democrats who are more conservative.

You, Sen. McDonald, are teh awesome. Which, these days, is saying more than I ever expected it would.

(via Political Irony)

Tags: Roy McDonald • same-sex marriage • Timothy Dolan • New York