Your weekday morning blend from Instant Tea:
1. All eyes remain on the New York State Senate, which is still one vote short of the majority needed to legalize same-sex marriage in the nation’s third-largest state. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s marriage equality bill cleared the Assembly on Wednesday night but must pass the Senate before the session ends next week. The Williams Institute reports that the bill would affect more than 42,000 same-sex couples.
2. After hand-delivering a petition calling on the Southern Baptist Convention to apologize for its anti-gay positions, LGBT leaders met for more than 30 minutes Wednesday with SBC President Bryant Wright. From the Baptist Press: The remarkable meeting — cordial the entire time — took place between the morning and afternoon sessions of the SBC in Wright’s annual meeting office at the Phoenix Convention Center. The nine-person coalition included representatives of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, Faith in America and Truth Wins Out. They protested outside the convention hall and requested to deliver petitions to Wright, who decided to turn the event into a dialogue. Several members of the media also attended.
3. Congressman Anthony Weiner has told friends he plans to resign. From the New York Times: The news comes as Democratic leaders prepared to hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss whether to strip the 46-year-old Congressman of his committee assignments, a blow which would severely damage his effectiveness. Mr. Weiner, a Democrat, came to the conclusion that he could no longer serve after having long discussions with his wife, Huma Abedin, when she returned home on Tuesday after traveling abroad with her boss, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
