Editor's note: On CNN's "State of the Union," host and chief national correspondent John King goes outside the Beltway to report on the issues affecting communities across the country.



Christine Quinn, speaker of the New York City Council, and her partner, Kim Catullo, talk to John King.



NEW YORK (CNN)  -- As she lobbies members of the New York Senate these days, the politician in Christine Quinn can understand what the gay rights activist in her sometimes cannot.



"The fear of the unknown," is how she describes it. "This is a vote they've never cast before. And they don't know how people are going to react. You are in a position where people's reaction to you is the key to your success. And the unknown creates fear and fear often creates paralysis."



Quinn is the openly gay speaker of the New York City Council, and a proponent of legalizing same sex marriage in New York state.



"It is really encouraging to see what's happening around the country in places where you really wouldn't expect it, like Iowa," says Quinn's longtime partner, Kim Catullo. "To be in a place like New York and not have it just doesn't seem to make sense."



The New York Assembly passed legislation allowing same-sex marriages earlier this month, and the question now is whether there are enough votes in the state Senate to pass the legislation before the legislature adjourns for the year. Go behind the scenes with John King as he discusses his report from New York



Quinn, who spent time in Albany this past week meeting with undecided senators, is cautiously optimistic.



"It was amazing how much openness there was," she said of private meetings with lawmakers who are undecided and even a few who have said they are likely to oppose the legislation. "We just all have to create a moment for them to step forward. So I really think it is going to happen this month, before the legislative session is over."



Maggie Gallagher sees the Senate math quite differently.



"We are now working in 24 Senate districts," says Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriages. "We know we have generated thousands of phone calls to legislators. I don't think they will be passing a gay marriage bill this session."  Watch both sides assess chances of passing same-sex marriage bill »



The New York legislation is part of a growing national debate, and one which will gain even more attention because of the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy and the nomination of federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor to fill it.



"Not tomorrow. Not likely in the coming year unless the courts move dramatically faster than we are used to seeing them move," is how Columbia Law School Professor Suzanne Goldberg answers when asked when the issue of same-sex marriage is likely to make the Supreme Court docket. "But certainly some time in the next couple of years we're likely to see the Supreme Court issue a position or two on this issue."



Goldberg knows Sotomayer well; the judge is also a lecturer at Columbia.



"We've never spoken about the issue," Goldberg told us. "I have no inside information about her views. What I would say is that she is both a wise person and a thoughtful person and being wise and thoughtful are the right ingredients for reaching what to me is the right answer on this issue, which to me is that equality applies to all people."



The likelihood of the issue reaching the Supreme Court in the next year or two raises the stakes in the state battles.



Opponents of California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage vow to try again in 2010 in hopes of a different result. A new federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 was filed this week and could well be among the cases that make it to the Supreme Court eventually.



Five states now allow same-sex marriage: Maine, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts
what was the bill about What did the N.Y. Assembly pass? Who hopes President Obama will change mind? when was the bill passed Who is lobbying hard against same-sex marriages? Who passed bill allowing same-sex marriages? Who's an openly gay politician? Name the openly gay politician
legalizing same sex marriage allowing same-sex marriages Christine Quinn, speaker of the New York City Council, and her partner, Kim Catullo, earlier this month, Gallagher, The New York Assembly Quinn Christine Quinn
question: what was the bill about, answer: legalizing same sex marriage | question: What did the N.Y. Assembly pass?, answer: allowing same-sex marriages | question: Who hopes President Obama will change mind?, answer: Christine Quinn, speaker of the New York City Council, and her partner, Kim Catullo, | question: when was the bill passed, answer: earlier this month, | question: Who is lobbying hard against same-sex marriages?, answer: Gallagher, | question: Who passed bill allowing same-sex marriages?, answer: The New York Assembly | question: Who's an openly gay politician?, answer: Quinn | question: Name the openly gay politician, answer: Christine Quinn