Gay Pride Parade marks 40 years after NYC uprising

The Associated Press
June 28, 2009
Decades after a riot at a Greenwich Village bar sparked a movement for equal rights, gay New Yorkers celebrated their gains at Sunday's gay pride parade and lamented the state has not legalized marriage equality. The celebration was tempered by the knowledge that other states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa, have legalized the freedom to marry before New York. "Hopes and dreams and expectations have been raised, and there is nothing worse than for people to have their hopes die out, to have the rug pulled out from under them," said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, New York City's most prominent openly gay elected official. Gov. David Paterson said he remains hopeful that the state Senate will pass a same-sex marriage bill - if it can resolve the partisan stalemate that has paralyzed it. [Link]