New Yorkers poll in favor of gay marriage amid political hurricane

A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday for the first ime showed a clear majority of New Yorkers now favor gay marriage.

This news comes against the backdrop of a state legislature in a special session on the verge of total meltdown and a possible vote on gay marriage as early as today.

The poll indicates gay marriage activists are winning the public relations battle, with respondents favoring gay marriage by a 51-41 margin. A little over a month ago, a similar survey found a dead heat of 46-46 in the poll.

Study details show women are more accepting of gay marriage than men, Democrats more accepting than Republicans, whites and Hispanics more accepting than African-Americans and infrequent churchgoers are more accepting than regular congregants.

This would be news in itself. It’s amplified by the start of a series raucous special sessions.

Gov. David Paterson is calling daily special sessions in order to get a slew of bills passed before summer recess.

Tuesday in the State Senate, feuding Democrats and Republicans broke into their own groups and passed bills independently of one another.

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Paterson is launching another special session today with a gay marriage vote at the top of the agenda; that is provided Senators can even discuss issues as a unified body.

Paterson, a Democrat, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican, have both voiced support for gay marriage.

The airwaves have also been hit with plenty commercials in favor of traditional marriage, although the poll suggests their impact is muted.

If a gay marriage bill somehow makes it through the fractured legislature to Paterson’s desk, New York would become the seventh state – and fourth this year – to approve gay marriage.