Politics on the Hudson

“Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon was at the Capitol today meeting with six Democratic and Republican state senators in hopes of convincing them to adopt a same-sex marriage bill before the legislative session ends later this month.

Nixon said she hopes to marry her partner next summer in New York if the Senate passed the bill.

“We just went in there to try to personalize the issue for them as much as possible, to talk about our families and our kids and the benefits that we are currently denied,” she said of meeting with the senators.

Her trip was coordinated by the Empire State Pride Agenda, which would not disclose the list of senators she met with.

One of them, though, Sen. John Flanagan, R-Suffolk County, said he was impressed by Nixon when they met today.

“She is delightful, she is thoughtful and she is sincere,” he said. “And I enjoyed meeting her.”

Flanagan didn’t go as far as to say that Nixon changed his mind (he has only supported civil unions for gay couples) but said that “I think we had a very good discussion. Any good lobbyist makes you think.”

Nixon said the “the number one thing that changes hearts and minds is when they speak to someone who is gay.”

Asked if Senate Democrats should bring the issue to the Senate floor even if it’s unclear that the votes for passage are secure, Nixon said she could see arguments for and against doing that.

But she said that, “Marriage equality is going to pass in New York, whether it passes this year or next year or the year after. ”

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