Civility Update- Threats Made Against NY State Senator Opposing Gay Marriage

After passing in the New York state Assembly by an 80-63 margin, a same-sex marriage bill is expected to face a narrow vote in the State Senate up in Albany.

However, even with the GOP holding a narrow majority, opposition to New York's Marriage Equality Act does not fall uniformly across party lines.

South Bronx State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. (D- 32nd District) has lobbied against the measure and has held rallies against the upcoming bill in Brooklyn in the last few weeks. According to the New York Daily News, threats were made against him and his family last month.

Diaz said he and his family have received death threats due to his vocal stance on keeping gay marriage unlawful in New York State. They were reported to the FBI and Albany police, he said.

"We are in America; we are supposed to agree to disagree and respect each other's positions," the senator said.

On May 10, tweets by opponents of Diaz's May 15 rally included one in which the sender expressed the desire to sexually assault Diaz's daughter.

[BTW, notice how Diaz went to the FBI and local police instead of 'having his legal team look into it'. Just sayin'- NANESB!].

Last week, a Brooklyn gay bar sponsored a 'F*ck Ruben Diaz' Festival that promised to feature raunchy poetry and limericks about the state senator. While making a perfunctory and tepid denunciation of violence or death threats, the organizer claimed that 'Occasionally taking the low road is just the ticket'.

Hmm....so much for that 'civility' the President was calling for in the wake of the Giffords shooting.