Bill Clinton

Former President Bill Clinton came out in favor of same-sex marriage in New York. And according to the Human Rights Campaign, daughter Chelsea Clinton is doing phone-banking in favor of marriage equality in the Empire State.

Democatic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has made marriage equality a top priority of the current legislative session in New York after two other states, Maryland and Rhode Island, failed to enact similar legislation this year.

Cuomo now has the support of Clinton, according to the Wall Street Journal. On Tuesday, Cuomo said he expects the measure to pass before the end of the session in June. Today, he backtracked and said that he won’t press for a vote unless he has the votes in the state Senate.

To change the votes of a handful of Republican Senators who voted against the measure last session, Cuomo is traveling around the state asking residents to put pressure on legislators.

In 2009, same-sex marriage passed the Assembly in New York but failed to pass the Senate.

The hate group National Organization for Marriage has sent $500,000 to the state to derail the legislation. They have also pledged $1 million to campaign against legislators who vote for it, according to the Capital Tonight. The site comments that the ad was not made specifically for New York since the announcer has a distinct Southern accent. The TV ad uses scare tactics that imply that legalizing same-sex marriage requires children to be taught about homosexuality in school.

The bill to legalize same-sex marriage was introduced in the Assembly on Tuesdasy by Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell, Rosie O’Donnell’s gay brother.