The Bilerico Project | Daily experiments in LGBTQ

To further illustrate the importance of passing the marriage equality bill in New York state, The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy examined a number of surveys that revealed interesting statistics.

According to a press release from the think tank:

• There are an estimated 42,600 same-sex couples in New York (Source: 2009 American Community Survey), of whom 21% (nearly 9,000) are already legally married (Source: Williams Institute/Harris Interactive Same-sex Couple Survey, 2010)
• Approximately 7,200 same-sex couples in New York are raising about 14,000 children (Source: 2008/2009 American Community Survey)
• If New York extends marriage to same-sex couples, the percentage of the U.S.' population living in a state that allows same-sex couples to marry will more than double, from 5.1% to 11.4%. (Source: Census 2010)
• Similarly, the percentage of same-sex couples living in states that allow them to marry will more than double, from 6.9% to 14.3% (Source: 2009 American Community Survey)
• An estimated 38% of same-sex couples living in states that allow them to marry are currently married, compared to 12% in states that do not allow same-sex couples to marry (Source: Williams Institute/Harris Interactive Same-sex Couple Survey, 2010)

Last night the New York assembly, which boasts a Democratic majority and had approved the marriage equality bill three times prior, passed the bill again by a vote of 80-63. Gov. Andrew Cuomo submitted the bill for a vote on Tuesday.

State senators, who could not decide yesterday after a four-hour conference whether to introduce the bill to the floor, now must decide how important those 42,600 same-sex New York couples are. A decision is expected to be reached by the end of the week.

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