Sliding Slope - Today's NYTimes's coverage of final passage by New York state of a gay civil rights act contains the following juxtaposed observations:

All morning, the Capitol was crawling with advocates for and against the bill. There were Catholic lobbyists, who said the act was "well-intentioned" but could lead to the legalization of same-sex marriages.

Also making a last-minute appeal was Matt Foreman, the executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, who wore a bright purple tie with his pinstriped suit and made no secret of his goal to eventually see same-sex unions legalized.

The comments reflect a new reality for the foes of gay rights, alluded to in the Colorado story I blogged yesterday. It seems that the anti-gay bunch can no longer win the argument (in places like New York) that gays are second-class citizens undeserving of equality. What they are left with, then, is the great bugaboo of the age -- gay marriage. Their call to arms goes something like this: "If you pass a civil rights bill, don't blame us if you wake up in a few years with gay marriage." It's an effective tactic, if only temporarily. Just as the public has gradually come to see gays as Will & Jack rather than child molesters and park-prowling perverts, the case for gay marriage (or its equivalent) can only progress.

Witness the characters playing the most prominent roles in yesterday's drama -- a sitting Republican governor and a state Senate leader, also Republican. Pataki in particular seems to have embraced the cause, but even Bruno came out of the closet by publicly cajoling his party colleagues to vote in support. The gov's quote would be a dream to hear from even some Democrats here in the South:

It's not upstate, downstate, Republican, Democrat, black, white, straight, gay. We are one New York and I think the passage of this bill is another important step in the confirmation of that.

Alas, there was little mention of those transgendered who have been left behind by this cruel legislation.