Marriage equality in NY: at last, a glimmer of hope from the Republican Party

With the aid of four reasonable Republicans, New York's legislature has officially legalized same-sex marriage in the state.

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The law includes an exemption for religious institutions, specifying that they don't have to recognize same-sex unions as marriage.  Good for them; they're entitled to their own beliefs and can exclude anyone they want to from religious services.

I'm happy to see that at least some of them have realized that fighting culture wars is a waste of taxpayers' time and money.  Last time I checked, same-sex couples in loving and committed long term relationships weren't causing an economic crisis; shouldn't politicians focus their energy on bigger issues instead of trying to preserve archaic discrimination against this minority group?

It would be nice to see Republican legislators around the country (and on Capitol Hill) take note, but that's wishful thinking.  Fanning the flames of anti-gay sentiment is an all to easy way to distract their constituents from the fact that they aren't doing anything to trim down government spending.

At least four in New York got it right.