Gov. Andrew Cuomo, LGBT advocates and state lawmakers today are cheering the one-year anniversary of the state’s same-sex marriage law taking effect.

The measure has become the defining achievement of Cuomo’s first term so far, and will like trump anything he does legislatively for however long he is governor.

In a statement released this afternoon, Cuomo said the anniversary is “both a day to celebrate and a day to reflect.”

From his statement:

“One year ago, the Marriage Equality Act became a reality for same-sex couples upstate and downstate who had been living for decades with disparate treatment simply based on their sexual orientation. Since then, thousands of same-sex couples have gotten married in New York and are now afforded thousands of benefits and protections that they were previously deprived of under state law, including health care and hospital visitation rights, pension benefits, property ownership, inheritance rights, and safeguards against loss or injury of a spouse.”

Lynn Faria, the executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, also reflected on the anniversary:

“It’s been a historic year,” said Lynn A. Faria, interim executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, the largest statewide advocacy group for NewYork’s LGBT community. “Thousands of couples – my wife and I included – have finally been able to say I do, surrounded by family, friends and lovedones: as it should be. Once again, New York has led the way for equality and justice, and what began as a ripple has become a tidal wave of equality sweeping the nation.”

And the four-member Independent Democratic Conference, who had touted the financial benefits of legalizing same-sex marriage for New York’s economy, said in a statement they believe the law has garnered an extra $259 million for the state’s economy, based on numbers from Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office.

With 11,518 same sex couples marrying in New York over the last year, New York experienced economic growth even greater than the IDC could have predicted.

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