Tag Archives: Daniel O’Donnell

The New York Times reports: Since as early as the 1960s, defense lawyers have introduced the idea that people accused of violent crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people had acted in a state of temporary insanity caused and justified by their victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The legal strategy, known as the “gay panic” or “transgender panic” …

USA Today reports: Thousands of people clad in rainbow colors marched Sunday through Greenwich Village and up Fifth Avenue for the annual Gay Pride parade, a massive celebration of LGBTQ identity. One of this year’s grand marshals is tennis legend Billie Jean King, along with transgender advocate Tyler Ford and the civil rights organization Lambda Legal. Lady Gaga’s “Born This …

Via press release from openly gay New York Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell: It is once again time for New York to send a strong message to the country that we will not allow state funded travel to states that allow discrimination against LGBT individuals. These laws, veiled as religious freedom, are simply attempts to skirt around the Supreme Court ruling last …

New York is the only state not to have legalized mixed martial arts and yesterday during a debate on the issue, gay Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell compared the sport to “gay porn with a different ending.” From the New York Daily News: O’Donnell, a Manhattan Democrat who is openly gay, argued on the Assembly floor that the sport often boasts “two …

From the New York Daily News: Ten gay and lesbian state and city Democratic elected officials on Tuesday are set to formally endorse Hillary Clinton for president, the Daily News has learned. Among those backing Clinton are state Sen. Brad Hoylman, a Manhattan Democrat and the state’s only openly gay senator, as well as Assembly members Deborah Glick (D-Manhattan), Daniel …

Northern Ireland’s Rainbow Project this morning announced on Facebook that their clients’ same-sex marriage ban challenge will be heard on December 3rd. According to a poll released in July, 68% of the Northern Irish public now supports same-sex marriage, an even greater number than the 62% that voted “yes” in Ireland’s national referendum. The highest support comes from Catholics, 75% …

“Ever since I was a boy, I dreamed of being a politician. But when I was imagining it, there were no openly gay politicians to look up to. I didn’t think an openly gay person could be elected to public office. I pursued a legal career, not in the hopes of switching to politics, but as an alternative I could …

“As for many, there is a deeply personal element to this historic victory for me. I am very recognizably Irish-American, from my face to my name, but until these last few weeks, I have often felt that I don’t belong. Last month I was invited to Ireland by the Lawyers for Yes Campaign to help kick off the final weeks …

“My partner John and I were among the plaintiffs in the New York State Court of Appeals lawsuit challenging the definition of marriage in 2006. Losing that lawsuit made me realize that my legislative priority had to be the passage of New York’s Marriage Equality Act. So we took our struggle to the State Legislature. I introduced and gained passage …

New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has signed onto a letter which demands that sponsors of the Sochi Olympics issue a denouncement of Russia’s anti-gay pogrom. Andy Humm reports at Gay City News: Ten major Olympic sponsors from Coke to Dow Chemical –– none of which has acceded to calls that they speak out forcefully against Russia’s laws making it …

“I was in the New York State Court of Appeals courtroom in 2005 when New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s lawyers argued to reverse the state of New York’s first court ruling in favor of marriage equality. Now Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey is making increasingly desperate attempts to appeal his own state’s decision before New Jersey couples can …

Openly gay New York state Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell today called on the state comptroller’s office to divest its pension funds from all Russian interests.  Via press release: “These issues are very personal for me, both as a gay man and as an elected official who has fought against intolerance and bigotry in my work in the New York State Assembly. …

A coalition of gay New York state legislators and gay NYC politicians have issued a joint letter to President Obama which demands that he respond to Russia’s crackdown on LGBT people by canceling a coming meeting with Vladimir Putin. Via press release, here’s the letter in full: Dear President Obama: We write as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) elected …

Via press release: Last night, New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed into law State Senator Brad Hoylman’s (D -Manhattan) and State Assembly Member Daniel O’Donnell’s (D-Manhattan) legislation to expand access to meningitis vaccines in the midst of an alarming and deadly outbreak of the disease among men who have sex with men (MSM). According to the New York …

Two years ago today same-sex marriage became legal in New York state, exactly one month after being passed in the state Senate and signed into law by Gov. Cuomo that same day.  Happy anniversary, New York!

New York City Pride Grand Marshal Edith Windsor rode in triumph today as about a million people screamed her name. When Windsor’s car turned onto Christopher Street, the thunderous chants of “EDIE! EDIE! EDIE” echoed down the very blocks where our movement started 44 years ago this week.  I was completely verklempt as were many, many joyous people behind the …

On Tuesday the New York state Assembly approved GENDA, the transgender rights bill, for the sixth time. But not before openly gay Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell delivered an epic rant against the idiots who characterized the item as a “bathroom bill.”  O’Donnell: “Spare me your lectures about GOD DAMN bathrooms!”

The New York Assembly today followed yesterday’s action by the state Senate in approving the bill that is being described as the nation’s strongest gun control measure. Openly gay Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell cheers via press release: We as a community are still reeling from our overwhelming losses in Webster, NY and Newtown, CT. Even one injury or death from gun-related …

MA Attorney General Martha Coakley We believe that the First Circuit’s ruling striking down the Defense of Marriage Act was correct and we look forward to the time when that discriminatory law is conclusively invalidated. Though the Supreme Court has chosen to take up the issue of DOMA’s constitutionality in another case – Windsor v. United States – my office …

Today New York’s hate groups hit the end of their miserable, bigoted road. New York’s top court has declined to hear an appeal from a Monroe County-based group that sought to overturn the state’s law allowing same-sex marriage. The state Court of Appeals announced its decision Tuesday. New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, a conservative group opposed to same-sex unions, filed …