The most high-profile issue in New York in the past three months has been the effort to legalize gay marriage in New York–or marriage equality as its proponents describe it. The passage Friday of a very controversial bill makes New York by far the largest state to take this step. This comprehensive New York Times story linked to here provides the background, context and the politics of the issue and decision.
This won’t be the end of the story. In fact, one can expect a flurry of followup stories. If you had begun your Craft class, doing such a story might be an assignment.
What stories would you do? Coming up with good story ideas is what makes very good journalists.
I would start with the wedding services industry; the wedding planners, cake decorators, wedding photographers, and so on. Since about 2 out of 5 New Yorkers oppose same-sex marriage, I wonder if some of these industry professionals will be wrestling with their conscience. It will certainly be a new experience.
I would also like to applaud the legislative process at work here. It was controversial, sure, but New York’s legislative foray into same-sex marriage this year was decidedly different than in previous years. I would like to discuss the similarities of leadership here at the state level with the President’s leadership at a national level. Lately, the national political debate has grown more divided, and I would be interested to hear how earlier presidents cut across party lines to pass their controversial legislation (the 1964 Civil Rights Act comes to mind).