N.Y. governor plans same-sex marriage bill

NEW YORK, April 16 (UPI) -- New York Gov. David Paterson announced plans Thursday to introduce legislation that would make same-sex marriage legal in the state.

Paterson, the first black governor of the state, compared discrimination against blacks to that against homosexuals, The New York Times reported.

"We have all known the wrath of discrimination, we have all felt the pain and insult of hatred," he said. "We stand to tell the world that we want equality for everyone. We stand to tell the world that we want marriage equality in New York State."

A large group of politicians joined Paterson for a news conference in his New York City office. They included Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who became an independent after running as a Republican and plans to seek a third term as a Republican.

"It is not the state's place to define marriage in a way that excludes a segment of the population from the legal benefits associated with marriage, and that's why I'm here today," he said.

New York has said it would recognize gay marriages contracted elsewhere.

The Assembly passed legislation introduced by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer in 2007, but it stalled in the state Senate.