Roy J. McDonald Quotes
If my doing the right thing will cost me my seat, they can take this job and shove it.
He was one of only 4 Republicans who voted to allow gay marriage when it was a major plank in the Republican Party Platform to oppose single sex marriage. The senator was told by colleagues that his seat was in danger.
Roy J. McDonald, New York State Senator (Republican), Quoted in New York Times Magazine, April 15. 2012
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
He was one of only 4 Republicans who voted to allow gay marriage when it was a major plank in the Republican Party Platform to oppose single sex marriage. Before the vote, opponents, including most of his fellow Republicans, had all warned of dire consequences if gay marriage were legalized. Essentially, when the law was passed, it was very meaningful for gay couples, but there was no change for most others. The status quo remained. Hence, his comment to all who warned of consequences.
Two days earlier, New York Voted to legalize gay marriage and Alesi became the first Republican to vote for gay marriage. New York was the first state to legalize gay marriage by an act of their legislature and not by the judiciary on Constitutional grounds. Generally, most of the Republican politicians were opposed to marriage equality as they had the religious right wing of the party for whom gay marriage was anathema.
Earlier, he had opposed same sex marriage, but as the population as a whole had a change of mind on this issue, so did he. By 2013, 16 States had modified their laws to allow gay marriage.
This was an incredibly accurate prediction as 2 years thereafter, it was not only the major civil rights issue of the time, but it became a major general political and legal issue regarding the rights of states. Within year, 16 states allowed same sex marriage.
What made this quotation very dramatic was that the state of Virginia, under the previous administration dominated by religious fundamentalists had passed a law banning same sex marriage. Several private Virginia citizens had sued the State in Federal Court, asserting that their Constitutional rights were violated by the ban. The Attorney general normally defends the state in any court proceeding. However, Herring agreed with the plaintiffs on the case, that the Virginia law was unconstitutional, so he and the State entered the case on the side of the plaintiffs and against the state law. His reference to the right side of history was related to the fact that as late as 1964 Virginia had a law prohibiting interracial marriage which they enforced and the Supreme Court invalidated. Thus, on marriage, Virginia had a track record of being on the wrong side of history and the law.
Roy J. McDonald is a Republican politician and former member of the New York State Legislature who represented the 43rd District in the New York State Senate and Districts 100 and 112 in the New York State Assembly. McDonald served as Town and County Supervisor for the Town of Wilton, New York for 23 years. Following his tenure as Supervisor, McDonald served in the Assembly from 2002 to 2008 and served in the Senate from 2009 to 2012.
