Chuck Schumer-- Anti-Gay No More (He Claims)

Seeing North Carolina freshman Kay Hagan on the list didn't surprise me when Rachel Maddow revealed the names of the reactionary Democrats joining Evan Bayh's anti-Obama bloc. She ran as a tepid, non-progressive candidate against raging reactionary Elizabeth Dole. And in the primary, she was careful to not stray a millimeter from the center of the center. But after New York Senator Chuck Schumer, chair of the powerful-- and well-funded-- DSCC decreed that North Carolina was not ready for a gay man to run for Senate, Hagan was a shoo-in against openly gay and openly progressive Jim Neil.

Had Schumer not torpedoed Neil and had Neil gone on to beat first Hagan and then Dole, he would be helping Obama to pass his family-friendly rescue agenda instead of collaborating with reactionaries like Bayh and Mary Landrieu to water it down and make it more "business friendly." But that's a lot of "ifs" and long before Schumer has come to see the light and finally backed away from his homophobic posture.

Apparently Schumer has finally woken up and realized he represents New York not New West Virginia or New Utah and announced-- in front of witnesses-- that he supports same-sex marriage. Maybe he looked at the study measuring the correlation between homophobia and tumescence when looking at dirty gay pictures and left embarrassed. Or maybe it was just the risotto last night but Schumer has flip-flopped on gay marriage.

Schumer's office confirmed the meeting and also the senior senator's change of heart, issuing the following statement from the Brooklyn Democrat (who is traveling upstate today):

"It’s time. Equality is something that has always been a hallmark of America and no group should be deprived of it. New York, which has always been at the forefront on issues of equality, is appropriately poised to take a lead on this issue."

Maybe he's just afraid of Jon Cooper.

And speaking of gay marriage, the first state to have adopted civil unions (a decade ago) is well on the way to correcting the mistake. The Vermont state Senate voted 26-4 in favor of marriage equality. Next stop the House, which is also expected to approve, and then it goes to Republican Governor Jim Douglas who has so far ducked the question of whether he'd sign it or not. Hopefully he won't be consulting with homophobic sociopath Antonin Scalia.