In a major blow to the gay rights movement, the state Senate overwhelmingly killed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage on Wednesday.

After two-and-half hours of passionate debate, the Senate voted the measure down 38-24.

New York now joins a list of 31 other states, most recently Maine, to shoot down gay marriage.

None of the Senate's 30 Republicans voted for the measure.

Of the 32 Democrats, 24 voted for it, eight against.

A perfect record. Everywhere Americans have been given a chance to vote on gay marriage, they've soundly rejected it. Gay marriage is only legal in those states where the courts have simply extended the right by fiat.

The issue of gay marriage aside, the politics is fascinating. In the wake of Prop 8's success in California, the GLBT lobby thought they could blame the loss on the Mormon church, and characterize opposition to gay marriage as a minority position. I'd say losses in liberal states like Maine and New York pretty much destroy that strategy and erase the perception that its just religious kooks who oppose gay marriage.

Nevertheless, there is another element in this saga that is pretty interesting. As news reports in the wake of the Prop 8 victory pointed out, Mormons represented a vanishingly small proportion of the electorate in California, but nevertheless had an impact well beyond their numbers on the basis of intensity, organization and money. Its now looking like they not only defeated gay marriage in California, but nationally as well. Somehow I doubt so many New York State Senators would have voted against it if Prop 8 had failed and gay marriage won the day.

A lot of pressure by a small, highly-motivated group, at the right time and place, can make an enormous difference.