When more than 1,000 gay-rights advocates descend on Albany Monday, the emissary greeting them won’t be Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy.

The Empire State Pride Agenda will hold a rally in Albany as a coalition of groups try to push for gay marriage legalization by June.

Duffy has usually been deployed for economic development matters, not social issues like gay marriage.

The Empire State Pride Agenda notes in its release that Cuomo’s backing of the issue is key in order for it to pass the Republican-led Senate, where potential swing votes are being counted and re-counted.

With the leadership of a historically popular governor, an Assembly that has repeatedly voted in support of this agenda and rapidly increasing statewide momentum, this year marks the most dynamic opportunity yet for LGBT New Yorkers and their allies to tell their stories directly to legislators.

As Joe Spector noted earlier, Cuomo and the gay community have had a historically strained relationship. But the governor has said he wants the measure approved by the time the Legislature wraps up its work in the next six weeks. It’s also seen as a needed victory in order for him to shore up support within the progressive wing of the state’s Democratic Party.

The governor, who has met with leaders in the gay community earlier this year, is yet to release his official schedule for Monday.

Duffy is due to speak at 10 a.m. at the Empire State Convention Center. A rally at the West Capitol Park is set for 1 p.m. Advocates are then expected to meet with lawmakers to push the issue.

Also due to speak at Monday’s rally is Sen. Tom Duane, an openly gay Manhattan Democrat the sponsor of the failed 2009 bill for gay marriage legalization. The measure failed in the then-Democratic-controlled Senate, 38-24. Republicans now hold a 32-30 advantage.

Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward, a North Country Republican whose son is gay, is also on the schedule.

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