Sources large and small across the Internet are celebratory in their remarks about last night’s historic vote for Marriage Equality in New York. While many details of how the legislation finally turned out in regards to the negotiated religious exemptions, I thought I’d survey some of what is being discussed at this point, less than a dozen hours since the vote.

I’m calling the vote “historic” and most commentators agree with that, though few are talking about why it deserves such a designation.Louis Martinelli is the exception, and I’ll talk about his post later, but I think he is way off base. So, I’ll say a bit about why I feel it was historic.

I’m also going to speak only of “Marriage Equality” where most sources write about “same-sex marriage.” these are not synonymous terms in the bigger scheme of things, and a focus on gay marriage or same-sex marriage is, in the long term counter productive. More on that later in this post.

Last week, on the podcast, Gay USA, there was a valuable discussion about the potential religious exemptions, and how these could create a bill that sets the entire LGBTQ community back even if marriage is approved. I encourage anyone who is trying to follow this issue closely to check it out. Andy and Ann always do a great show, and demonstrate why thoughtful dialogue on the issues is far more important than simply being for or against something.

My friend Bonnie writes simply about the value of what happened in New York. This acttion and the push for Marriage Equality is about fairness, but in a practical sense, this isn’t simply a concept. Real people who are in committed relationships are affected negatively every single day because we are not all treated equally. Straight couples have special rights, and that isn’t fair, nor does it benefit our society or our country. At the other end of the blog spectrum, is the Huffington Post with a broad mix of articles.

As I stated above, I think Louis Martinelli is off base, and as I read his post, I left wondering what his agenda really is all about. (I think it is a self-serving agenda) His civics lesson, while interesting, doesn’t really add up to what he claims it does. He is being factual, the number of representatives now in Congress from Marriage Equality states has doubled, he falsely suggests that this means very much. DOMA is already being struck down in the courts, and the number of Equality positive reps won’t really change what the Congress is capable of doing. Martinelli attributes his change of position (he used to be a primary person at the National Organization for Marriage, NOM) to the real people he saw and met who were protesting the NOM bus tour, however,he seems to be focused on a strategic idea of how this one event plays into a bigger picture. Such a position misses the way this legislation impacts real people immediately. At least in 30 days when the law goes into affect.

Surprisingly, Martinelli doesn’t mention his old boss, NOM at all. They stood the most to lose by a passage of Marriage Equality. Lead Hater Spokesperson, Maggie Gallagher likes to describe NOM as “the group that wins.” NOM had pledged to spend a million bucks to defeat Narriage Equality in New York, and they failed, even with a big financial investment. Now THAT’S historic! Daily last week, NOM se t out emails urging their supporters to be calling the New York Senators, and today we see just how much power they actually yield. Not much?

I believe what happened in New York is historic for three reasons. NOM is the first. Except for their ability to gather undisclosed money from bigots and channel it into Hate campaigns, they truly have little power, and if they are not able to be successful, their ability to raise money will be diminished. The second reason this is historic, deals with the tools opponents to Marriage Equality exploit. their language is a form of fear mongering which has been successful in the past. But perhaps no more. In New York it seems that logic, the purpose of government and reality carried more weight than them fear mongering and irrelevant false moral arguments.

The last reason this was historic is connected to the party affiliations of the New York Senators who made it possible for this legislation to pass. It is easy, following the 2010 elections to believe that progressive causes have no where to go since the GOP is in control most everywhere. Truly we have seen negative results because of this such as the removal of three Supreme Court judges in Iowa. However, last night we watched a GOP controlled state senate bring up a Marriage Equality bill and pass it with some Republican support. That’s truly and completely historic!

I like many name LGBTQ Rights as a progressive issue, and it is. Bur it is more than that. It is a fairness and an Equality issue, and when the hate mongering and false moral arguments are removed, can be seen as an issue that isn’t bound to one party or the other. While historically, Democrats have taken a lead on this issue, times are changing as they always do, and today, we need that Democrat support and Republican support too. Perhaps all or most progressive causes are Equality issues and we will learn how to frame them accordingly as we watch the progress towards full marriage equality.

While being historic is really cool, the true and massive value of what happened in New York however, is that fairness won and all of the residents of that state are a step closer to being treated as equal to one another in terms of legal rights. Marriage Equality isn’t about an agenda or a concept, it is about allowing everyone to be afforded the same rights and privileges. Period. While we need to see this everywhere, the Folsom in New York are one step closer.