Via email from Matt Browner Hamlin comes this:

If you support gay marriage...

Governor Paterson has said that NY will recognize legal same-sex marriages from other states and countries. He's doing a poll on whether people support it. If you're interested in taking 15 seconds to lodge your support, just call 1-518-474-8390 and say 'I support the Governor's directive on marriage,' then give them your 5 digit (New York) zip code.

The number reaches the Executive Chamber. Let them know that you support equality for all New Yorkers.

(Of course, if you don't, that would be an opportunity to also air your case for whites-only drinking fountains. Your call, but it's the same principle.)

Governor Paterson has instructed state agencies to begin recognizing same-sex unions performed in other jurisdictions, domestic and foreign, in the state of New York.

In a directive issued on May 14, the governor’s legal counsel, David Nocenti, instructed the agencies that gay couples married elsewhere “should be afforded the same recognition as any other legally performed union.”

The revisions are most likely to involve as many as 1,300 statutes and regulations in New York governing everything from joint filing of income tax returns to transferring fishing licenses between spouses. [Emph. added]

Think about that for a moment: everything from income tax returns to fishing licenses presently treats gay and straight New Yorkers differently. Think about that massive legal disability when next you see a republican election mailer complaining about the 'special rights' gay people supposedly seek.