NEW YORK (AP) -- Former New York Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said he now supports legalizing same-sex marriage in New York, a change of heart that could influence the measure's chances in the state Senate.
The 80-year-old Republican, who retired last year as the state's most powerful Republican, tells The Associated Press he now sees the issue as a civil right.
"As a Republican, I believe in personal freedom," Bruno said in a written statement. He said support of the measure by Democratic Gov. David Paterson, a friend and longtime collegial adversary in the Senate, helped him change his mind about same-sex marriage. Bruno blocked an earlier version of the bill that the Democrat-led Assembly passed two years ago.
"I opposed same sex marriage largely because the overwhelming majority of my caucus opposed it," Bruno stated. "As a relatively conservative Roman Catholic, I instinctively view marriage as the foundation of the family.
"However, that view really does conflict with the rights that are afforded all of us," he said. "This is America and we have inalienable rights ... life is short and we should all be afforded the same opportunities and rights to enjoy it."
Bruno's wife of 57 years, Barbara, died in 2008 after years of suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Whether the bill to legalize same-sex marriage would pass in the Senate, now engulfed in a leadership struggle, remains unknown. The Assembly already has approved the measure, and Paterson supports it. But Republican senators, who would be crucial to gaining final legislative passage, haven't seemed to budge on the issue.
In an interview, Bruno said that although he opposed the measure in the Senate, he has grown to see same-sex marriage as a fundamental right equal to those protected by the founding fathers and President Abraham Lincoln.
Bruno can't lobby the Legislature for another year under state law and says he hasn't spoken to any officials about his views, only his friends and family.
Bruno was the Senate majority leader from 1995 to 2008. He faces a federal indictment accusing him using his public post to enrich himself by $3.2 million.
Bruno is the chief executive officer of CMA Consulting Services, an information technology consulting business based near Albany.
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