Breaking: Kirsten is the new Hillary?

WPIX (NYC's CW affiliate) is reporting with certainty that Kirsten Gillibrand has been chosen to fill Hillary Clinton's Senate seat:

Confirmed: Kirsten Gillibrand Chosen to Fill Clinton's Senate Seat [WPIX]

So what do we know? Well, in terms of our unions: The Gay Hudson website reports that they inquired with Gillibrand's office about the congresswoman's marriage equality stance, and that this was among the quotes they were given:

"I believe we should have a Federal law that protects all civil unions across America to ensure that gay couples have the right to visit a loved one in the hospital and be eligible for other entitled rights and benefits of committed partners.

The discussion of using the term marriage is more complicated because for many Americans it is a religious right defined as a covenant between a man, a woman and God. Since the Federal government should have no role in dictating religious affairs, I believe from a Federal and civil perspective, "civil union" should be used as the government's definition for all such relationships, including marriage."
Gillibrand for Senate? Maybe. Maybe Not. [Gay Hudson]

Seriously? More church marriage/civil marriage marriage? From another US senator? ::sigh::

To be fair, the Gay Hudson site does have her coming down on the right side on other matters of LGBT concern (anti-discrimination and hate crimes legislation, for instance). But many queer residents of a state where FULL marriage equality is so tantalizingly close were certainly hoping for someone who would help us further that particular conversation on a national scene. So yea, right now this sounds a tad disappointing on that front.

**More musings: Wayne Barrett: Is Gillibrand Too Republican to Replace Clinton? [Village Voice]

**ALSO: She has an 80% on HRC's congressional scorecard, failing to support HRC's position in these four areas:

-Military Readiness Enhancement Act (H.R. 1246)
Members of Congress were asked to co-sponsor legislation, introduced on Feb. 28, 2007, that would repeal the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military policy that denies lesbian, gay and bisexual soldiers the right to serve their country openly. As of Oct. 3, 2008, the measure had 149 co-sponsors: Democrats 146; Republicans 3.

-Tax Equity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act (H.R. 1820)
Members of Congress were asked to co-sponsor legislation, introduced on March 29, 2007, that would equalize tax treatment for employer-provided health coverage for domestic partners and other non-spouse, non-dependent beneficiaries. As of Oct. 3, 2008, the measure had 120 co-sponsors: Democrats 116; Republicans 4.

-Uniting American Families Act (H.R. 2221)
Members of Congress were asked to co-sponsor legislation, introduced on May 8, 2007, that would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide same-sex partners of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents the same immigration benefits that legal spouses of U.S. permanent residents enjoy. As of Oct. 3, 2008, the measure had 119 co-sponsors: Democrats 118; Republicans 1.

-Early Treatment for HIV Act (H.R. 3326)
Members of Congress were asked to co-sponsor legislation, introduced on Aug. 2, 2007, that would permit state Medicaid programs to
cover low-income, HIV-positive Americans before they develop AIDS. As of Oct. 3, 2008, the measure had 169 co-sponsors: Democrats
140; Republicans 29.

**ALSO: She is a member of the Blue Dog Democrats, a conservative Dem club.

**UPDATE: Here's a snippet from an interview that she recently gave to Hudson Valley's Inside Out. Her marriage view is much more fully explained in this one:

IO: A decent portion of our readers are gay. What’s your position on same-sex marriage?

Gillibrand: What I’d like to do legislatively, on the federal level—and I think we’ll be able to do this with the new president—is actually make civil unions legal in all 50 states, make it the law of the land. Because what you want to fundamentally do is protect the rights and privileges of committed couples, so that they can have Medicare benefits, visit in the hospitals, have adoption rights. All [the] things that we give to married couples, committed gay couples should be eligible for. And then the question of whether you call it a marriage or not, what you label it, that can be left to the states to decide.
[It’s] so culturally oriented. My mom’s generation, they want their gay friends to have every right and privilege that they should be eligible for as a married couple, but they feel uncomfortable calling it marriage. To them, a marriage is a religious word that they learned from the Catholic Church: It’s a covenant between a man, a woman, and God. So they feel uncomfortable with the word. But they don’t feel uncomfortable with the rights and privileges.
I think the way you win this issue is you focus on getting the rights and privileges protected throughout the entire country, and then you do the state-by-state advocacy for having the title.
Kirsten Gillibrand [Inside Out]

We get what she's trying to do, we really do. Still, it's that handing the word "marriage" over to churches thing that makes us uncomfortable.