As Gov. David Paterson calls on New York legislators to give same-sex marriage a vote, he’s being met with opposition from the usual suspects: the National Organization for Marriage, and State Sen. Ruben Diaz.

Diaz, who insists he can't be a homophobe because he knows gay people (two of his brothers, one who recently died, are gay), and who refuses to accept any blame for gay New Yorkers not being able to wed, says his opposition to marriage is merely the will of the people. But don't hate him for it: "My religion doesn’t allow me to dance. But that does not mean I don’t go to the party. My religion doesn’t allow me to drink. But that doesn’t mean I can’t hang around with my friends. My religion is against gay marriage. It means, I don’t agree with what you do. But let’s go out. Let’s go to the movies. Let’s be friends.”

And then there's the National Organization for Marriage, which aims to replace white supremacists as America's largest hate group. It just announced it's building a half million dollar "war chest" to mount a primary challenge for any GOP senator who votes for gay marriage, whether or not the vote wins or loses this week. That means, as Thomas Duane & Co. rally to lock in as many of the 32 Democratic votes as they can, the fight to secure Republican votes is that much harder.

It's a bit of a different twist than gay activists boycotting the Democratic National Committee: NOM is threatening to wipe out lawmakers before they cast their vote, while gays are threatening to withhold funds only after their elected officials screwed them over.