Same-sex couples are denied about 2,400 benefits that married heterosexual couples are given, according to a Binghamton University professor.

Sean Massey, a human development professor, said he was disappointed with the democratic state leadership for not bringing the topic of gay marriage to a vote.

Last week, State Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith said there wouldn’t be enough votes in the State Senate to legalize gay marriage in New York until at least next year. Democratic senators are in the minority on the hot-button issue, according to a Nov. 5 article in The New York Times.

Residents of the state have a different opinion, however.

“A majority of residents in New York state, as well as a fair number of Democrats, support the bill on gay marriage,” Massey said. “[The bill] had a fair chance of passing if it had been proposed.”

Others disappointed with the recent events in the Senate include Brian Young, the president of the BU College Democrats.

“With the way it looks now, [the Senate] said maybe next year, but they have been saying that for the last 10 years now,” Young said.

Young believes the topic has turned into a civil rights issue.

“We have basically created a second class, like in Jim Crow South, with the gay and lesbian population by denying them these rights,” Young said.

Matthew Unhjem, the editor in chief of Q Magazine, said he also felt “disheartened because now is the time for this to happen.”

“It’s better for it to have failed at this point rather than not being brought up at all,” Unhjem said. “If the trends follow, it seems that [the issue of gay marriage] is going in the right direction.”

Calls made to other campus leaders were not returned by the time of publication.