Cynthia Nixon to NY lawmakers: “We’ll remember those yays and nays … And there will be consequences.”

If I were a Democratic state senator who voted against allowing same-sex marriage in New York, I would not be looking forward to the next election.

In a commentary in the Huffington Post, two-time Emmy winning actress Cynthia Nixon of Sex and the City Fame writes why:

Wednesday’s No vote on same sex marriage was supremely disappointing on a personal as well as a political level. Guess Christine and I can kiss that Waldorf Astoria wedding… Brooklyn Botanical Gardens wedding… Montauk Beach wedding — you fill in the blank — goodbye. But we have two things today we didn’t have yesterday.

The first thing we have is clarity about who’s with us and who’s against us. And we’ll remember those yays and nays for next November and for Novembers to come. And there will be consequences.

But Miss Nixon was also encouraged by the “yes” vote of Ruth Hassell-Thompson, a senator from the Bronx and Mt Vernon. She was set to vote no but eventually came around.

She voted yes because gay people and straight people walked through her door in droves and wrote her letters and called her on the phone. And because she is a person of conscience. And because of one more thing that she didn’t tell us in her office that day: because she has a brother who is gay.

I think of Ruth Hassell-Thompson and understand that citizen lobbying is important. So is getting involved with campaigns. So is contributing money. So is talking to your neighbors, and co-workers and family. More important than ever.

Because you never know when a simple conversation can help change someone’s heart and mind. Because if we keep at it “they” will finally realize that we’re just people like them. Because time is on our side.

Meantime, there’s always Connecticut.