wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage held competing rallies yesterday. in hopes of influencing State Senators before they vote on the issue. WNYC's Arun Venugopal attended both rallies and has this report.

REPORTER: People sang and danced and waved Bibles in the air outside the Governor's office in midtown. This rally drew thousands of opponents of gay marriage, almost all of them members of Latino churches. Reverend Luis Lorenzo says organizers coordinated with hundreds of churches, from Maine to New Jersey, representing a wide variety of denominations.

LORENZO: Different organizations might have different ways of thinking, but when it comes to the word of God we have one mind and one accord.

REPORTER: While the anti-gay marriage rally filled up five city blocks, the pro-gay marriage event was much smaller, filling up just two blocks. But if opponents had a bigger turnout, supporters had the star power.

The Broadway cast of Hair opened the event, singing as if their lives depended on it. They were followed by actors from Sex in the City. And then, members of the political establishment: Governor Paterson, Mayor Bloomberg, Christine Quinn, and Tom Duane, an openly gay state senator. Duane hammed it up onstage but sounded assured that gay marriage would pass.

DUANE: And we're going to do it with bi partisan support. And we're going to do it with votes to spare. I promise.

REPORTER: That confidence was shared by some in the crowd, who feel that finally, New York's gays and lesbians have momentum on their side. But opponents say their confidence is misplaced, and that the Senate will reject gay marriage, in the coming weeks. For WNYC, I'm Arun Venugopal.