Assemblyman O'Donnell to Wed Partner Sunday

Photo by Gavin Bond

Persistence finally pays off as New York State Assemblyman and 2011 Out100 Honoree Daniel O’Donnell is set to marry his long-term partner of 30 years, John Banta.

The two will make it legal on Sunday, in large part due to O’Donnell’s own efforts in making same-sex marriage possible. The Assemblyman proposed a bill to legalize same sex marriage in the state of New York on three different occasions before it finally passed into law in June of 2011. The Advocate reports that O’Donnell and Banta officially got engaged to each other right before the state legislature passed the law. Their wedding invitations, it was reported, read that the couple would “tie the knot, at last.” Undoubtedly it has been an impossibly long wait, made longer by the uncertainty of whether gay marriage would even become a reality. It must be doubly sweet for Banta and O’Donnell to wed knowing their own hard work helped make this possible for themselves and all other gay couples wishing to marry in New York. The wedding will be attended by many who voted to legalize same sex marriage.