Gay marriage being pushed too hard?

From today's New York Times:

The New York State Senate decisively rejected a bill on Wednesday that would have allowed gay couples to wed, providing a major victory for those who oppose same-sex marriage and underscoring the deep and passionate divisions surrounding the issue . . . The defeat, which followed a stirring, tearful and at times very personal debate, all but ensures that the issue is dead in New York until at least 2011, when a new legislature will be installed. Since 2003, seven states, including three that border New York, have legalized same-sex marriage. But in two of the seven - California last year and Maine last month - statewide referendums have restricted marriage to straight couples, prohibiting gay nuptials. Pollsters say that while support is generally building for same-sex marriage, especially as the electorate ages, voters resist when they fear the issue is being pushed too fast.