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Shelly Silver, On the Couch First Spitzer Transition Team Meeting Set Socialist Won’t Socialize 10 Questions with Malachy McCourt GOP Challenger Says Bing Doesn’t Do Enough Tough Times for Local GOP Crowley on Malcolm Smith and Gay Marriage Paterson on Malcolm Smith and Democratic Strategy Krueger Faces a Challenge Political Transitions for Transit Workers The Money Trail: Loose Laws for Leftovers A Cabinet Stocked with Imports Instead of Political Curry For Alternate-Party Candidates, Winning Is Not Everything Slow Progress for Disabled Voting City’s Adult Literacy Programs Grapple with Funding Cuts Though the Competition is Over, the Campaign Continues
The October Poll: Which Council Member Would Have the Best Survival Skills on a Desert Island? Photos from the City Hall lauch/Rising Stars party The Hows of Political Activism at the Y Pastrami and Pickles with Rep. Anthony Weiner Editorial: When the Council Fears Debate The View from Albany: Rivalries and Détentes as Albany’s Old Guard Meets New Guard by Alan Chartock Read the Fine Print on Library Funding by City Council Member Vincent Gentile Observation: At the Empire State Pride Agenda Dinner, Highlights and Pitfalls by Allen Roskoff
Gather LGBT activists, elected officials, Hollywood stars and almost 1,200 guests and what do you have? The Empire State Pride Agenda dinner, which occurred October 5th.
One of the welcomed arrivals was soon-to-be-new State Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, led by our own Senator Tom Duane. Smith let everyone know that he indeed has, and does, support marriage equality. Those of us who know Smith know this to have been the case and are glad that the accusations have ended. Smith will be a fine leader.
Alan Van Capelle, who leads the Pride Agenda, has done a good job with the organization and is a rather smart, well spoken, sincere guy. Eliot Spitzer was the keynote speaker, and came out most eloquently for same-sex marriage, saying, “We will not ask whether this proposition of legalizing same-sex marriage is popular or unpopular, we will not ask if it’s hard or easy; we will simply ask if it’s right or wrong. I think we know in this room what the answer to that question is.”
Spitzer was introduced by actor Ed Norton, who said that Spitzer does his job neither as a Democrat, Republican or a liberal.
That’s supposed to be a compliment? I long for the day when people were proud of being called liberal Democrats—ahh the days of Bella Abzug! Spitzer’s speech was a tad disingenuous, when he talked about how activist judges have advanced civil rights causes, such as in Loving vs. Virginia and Brown vs. Board of Education, when this was exactly what he asked the judges not to do for our community in the same-sex marriage case. Oh, how I wish he didn’t go to court as he had! Perhaps we move on and hope that Spitzer does in fact achieve marriage equality, drops his support of the death penalty, stays out of international politics (he supports keeping the troops in Iraq) and does something to protect the city’s tenants.
Soon to be presidential candidate Russ Feingold gave a wonderful speech about how a senator from Wisconsin could support same-sex marriage as a matter of conscience. Articulate, totally progressive, anti-war and pro-gay—sounds like a great improvement over our two New York senators, who oppose our right to marry.
At Spitzer’s table sat Quinn, the UFT’s Randy Weingarten, lobbyist Emily Giske and Fred Hochberg, perhaps looking for an appointment in the incoming Spitzer administration. Not present were Sens. Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer.
During the night, people are now talking about Assembly Member Helene Weinstein, who heads the Assembly Judiciary Committee and has kept the Richard Gottfried-sponsored marriage equality bill buried in her committee. She is listed by ESPA as having a “position on marriage equality for same-sex couples unknown or unclear.” She must come out for the bill, and have it passed in her committee, or her position is totally unacceptable. Perhaps her friends in the Assembly need to hold her accountable and stop covering for her. I am told that she does not go to LGBT endorsement meetings or events or return questionnaires. Hmmm, what is this all about?
Allen Roskoff is a longtime gay rights activist and president of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club.