Senator Rubén Díaz addresses the anti-gay marriage crowd in D.C. (Photo: Díaz's office)

As the fiery Rev. Rubén Díaz Sr., a New York State Senator, thundered against same-sex marriage in the nation's capital, his son, Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr., was about to do the very opposite. The younger Díaz was joining a wave of politicians who have recently reversed their positions in favor of gay marriage, but his father said he was unswayed by the momentum against him.

“Marriage is sacred. Marriage is an institution established by God and it should stay that way,” he said. “The majority is not always right. 2,000 years ago the majority chose the rabbi and rejected Jesus. Now, the majority are rejecting the Bible and not choosing Jesus. I know my conviction and I know I will not change my view. I could be only one in the whole world and I would not change my view.”

Mr. Díaz Sr., a Pentecostal minister, was returning from an overnight vigil and march in Washington D.C. in support of the Defense of Marriage Act when his son blasted out a statement urging the Supreme Court to strike down DOMA, which denies federal benefits to gay couples. Never shy about espousing the glory of Christ, the elder Díaz, 69, suddenly found himself publicly at odds with his ambitious son, but he said he wasn't fazed.

“The beauty of America is that people can choose what they want,” he said. “My son respects my decision to follow the Bible. This will not divide the family. A lot of people would like to see the family divided. On the contrary, the family is stronger than ever.”

His son, reclining in his borough president’s office just a long fly ball from Yankee Stadium, concurred.

“We love each other, we’re family, we just differ on views and this is just one of many views I differ on with my father,” he contended. “But this is not about him.”

A Democratic assemblyman by the time he was 23, the younger Díaz rose in the political world before his father--a heroin junkie-turned-evangelical preacher--assumed his place in the State Senate. Mr. Díaz Jr. won the borough presidency with ease a decade later. Since then, he's mulled running for public advocate and has been gabbed about in political circles as someone who could one day be the city’s first Hispanic mayor. And, citing his openly gay niece and chief of staff, he said he simply had an epiphany on the marriage subject.

“The world didn’t end when marriage equality was passed in 2011,” he explained. “It just didn’t. It didn’t affect my personal quality of life. It didn’t affect Hilda’s, my wife, or my kids. My kids aren’t worse off because of marriage equality. So people are starting to be like, 'Wait a minute, you know, then what are we against? Are we against love?'”

His father, clearly, doesn’t accept that sort of reasoning. The lone Democrat in the State Senate to vote against a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in New York two years ago, Mr. Díaz Sr. has further drawn attention to himself--beyond his fire-and-brimstone preaching--for regularly shooting off opinionated missives, confidently entitled “What You Should Know,” that sharply criticize gay marriage, abortion and stem-cell research--the latter, for example, he once equated to “Hitler using the ashes of the Jews to make bars of soap.”

But, despite the reverend's constant pronouncements to the contrary, same-sex marriage is now almost universally embraced by city elected officials and for Mr. Díaz Jr. to further climb up the political ladder he may need to ensure his 2007 vote against gay marriage doesn't become a future liability. That is why El Diario columnist Gerson Borrero, never a fan of the Díaz clan, believes the borough president's recent revelation is little more than a calculation.

“For him to say that somehow he has found a new calling, that he understands that people have a right to love whoever they fall in love with and have the same rights as any other human being and at the same time also say he found thoat out as a result of his chief of staff influencing him and then also his niece, is a weak and really dishonest crutch,” Mr. Borrero said, arguing that the younger Díaz needs to more forcefully denounce his father. “This is simply a political ploy."

For his part, Mr. Díaz Jr. said electoral ambitions had nothing to do with his announcement, which he insisted was simply the same change of heart countless others have professed.

“What I also didn’t want is for people to think I was doing it for some type of political reason, to be honest with you,” he explained. “There was much talk about perhaps me running citywide. ... There’s no major opponent against me; I’m not running citywide. I just thought that this was the time for me to do the right thing.”

Rory Lancman (Photo: Facebook)

Queens Democratic Assemblyman Rory Lancman, a candidate against GOP Congressman Bob Turner, recently gave an interview to Jake Stern Radio Show of Yeshiva World News, and had a rather cute answer when pressed on his vote for gay marriage.

"Do you morally feel there is nothing wrong with same-gender marriage?" the interviewer asked. "If your son came to you, and said 'Dad, I want to have this 'same-gender marriage.' Would you have no objection, would he have your blessing?"

"First I'd have to ask if the guy's Jewish," Mr. Lancman joked, pausing before saying he'd like any child to have the same rights and opportunities as other children.

Mr. Turner won in an upset special election last summer partially due to opposition to the Democratic candidate, Assemblyman David Weprin and his vote in favor of same-sex marriage in New York. However, Mr. Lancman didn't feel it would be a significant issue in his own campaign for the seat.

"It came to the head in the Weprin race, I think, mostly because of the manner in which David articulated his support for the marriage issue, as opposed to simply whether one voted yes or no. At least that's my understanding of the concerns that were raised," he said.

This is perhaps a reference to the backlash against Mr. Weprin for citing his Jewish faith when he cast his vote. The socially conservative Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind additionally said he could never support Mr. Weprin because he felt Mr. Weprin was trying to blunt his own passionate speech on the issue.

Mr. Lancman said he's never had a lot of difficulty in articulating the issue with those who disagree.

"For me, it's just a very straightforward civil rights question. Any right or right the government is going to confer on anyone, it needs to confer that right on everyone," he explained. "When I've talked about that with people who have a different point of view, they've understood my perspective."

Update: Jews for Morality's Joseph Hayon, who's helping organize Rabbinical opposition to Councilman Lew Fidler's State Senate campaign, emails a disagreement with Mr. Lancman's assessment:

"It's official. The Queens Democratic Party is clueless. Lancman is going to get 'Weprined' right after Fidler."

Mr. Donovan is the first sitting cabinet secretary to do so.

From Metro:

Asked about this summer's passage of marriage equality in New York, Donovan says, ''I was enormously proud to be a New Yorker on the day that it passed. I actually worked for Andrew Cuomo when he was Housing Secretary. I worked for Mike Bloomberg who has been a constant supporter of the law – what is now law.''

He talked about how the law's passage had affected those around him, saying, ''So many friends that I know were able to achieve a dream the day that law passed. And so many neighbors.

''It made me proud to be a New Yorker – not enough to get me to move back. We've got more work to do in the Obama administration in a second term.''

Asked if that included marriage equality, Donovan confirmed it did, saying, ''Like marriage equality.'

President Obama--Mr. Donovan's boss--does not support same sex marriage, but has said his views are "evolving" on the issue.

HUD Secretary Supports Marriage Equality [Metro Weekly]