Tag Archives: David Paterson

A New York state appeals court has ruled that a gay man married in Canada has the right to inherit the estate of his late husband, despite claims by the husband’s family that their marriage was invalid. While same-sex couples can’t wed in the state, J. Craig Leiby and H. Kenneth Ranftle were legally married in Canada, so Leiby is …

As his final day in office winds to a close for Governor David Paterson, LGBT New Yorkers should offer him our thanks for being the most relentlessly and loudly pro-gay governor in state and arguably, national history. Our state movement’s two most important pieces of legislation, GENDA and marriage equality, remain unattained, but that, of course, is due to our …

Openly gay and openly HIV+ New York state Sen. Tom Duane was arrested along with several other AIDS activists in a protest at City Hall tonight. The act of civil disobedience was meant to draw attention to a housing bill that was vetoed by the governor earlier this year. The bill would insure that poor people living with HIV/ AIDS …

Last night New York Gov. David Paterson, possibly the best straight political ally the LGBT community has ever known, lead thousands of New Yorkers in a vigil for the at-risk queer youth of our state. A gentle rain began to fall during the action, matched only by the tears on everyone’s faces as Broadway star Cheyenne Jackson led the crowd …

Gov. David Paterson has signed a bill allowing all unmarried couples to jointly adopt in New York state. The measure signed by Gov. David Paterson also substitutes the gender-neutral term “married couple” in the adoption statute for “husband and wife.” According to sponsors, that partly codifies state appeals court rulings and clears up complications from joint adoption as a two-step …

AIDS activists protested outside the Manhattan office of Gov. David Paterson today over his reneging on a pledge to support a bill that would cap the rents of people with AIDS at 30% of their income. Via press release from Housing Works: Paterson had agreed to sign the 30 percent rent cap bill in both 2009 and 2010, but went …

New York Gov. David Paterson today signed the Dignity For All Students Act (DASA), a sweeping anti-bullying education reform bill that grants explicit protections to students based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. It is the first law in New York state to include gender identity and expression as protected classes. The signing of this historic bill took place at …

A just-approved hike in the state tax on cigarettes will raise the cost to around $12/pack in NYC, prompting Bronx Assemblyman Michael Benjamin to claim that Gov. Paterson hates Israel. Because higher cigarette prices encourages bootlegging. Which is done by terrorists. “Criminals and terrorists will be further enticed to take advantage of the price differential between high tax and low …

It’s been coming for about a year, but today New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo finally announced formally that he is running for governor. “New York is upside down and backwards; high taxes and low performance,” said Cuomo. My campaign is this simple: I represent the people of the great state of New York and we want our government back.” …

NY Gov. David Paterson’s controversial beverage tax, which is meant to fight obesity (and help balance the budget), is facing vigorous opposition from soft drink manufacturers. The astroturf group New Yorkers Against Unfair Taxes has been running the below ad on NYC television every hour for the last few days. The proposed tax is one cent per ounce of sugared …

In a front page editorial, today the New York Times called for the resignation of Gov. David Paterson unless he can “account for his actions.” Gov. David Paterson gave New Yorkers his “personal oath” on Friday that he had never abused his office. It now seems clear that, at the very least, he tried to arrange a ham-handed cover-up to …

The witness tampering scandal surrounding NY Gov. David Paterson is getting worse. New York Gov. David Paterson appears to have moved from worrying about his political future to facing the possibility of criminal charges. A second New York Times story Tuesday on his involvement in shielding a close aide, David Johnson, from charges of domestic violence reported that Paterson, besides …

UPDATE: NY Gov. Paterson will announce today that he will not seek election in November. Embattled Gov. Paterson has pulled the plug on his election bid, a source close to the governor said Friday. Paterson will announce the decision later Friday. Paterson has been under fire for having contacted a woman who accused one of his top aides of domestic …

“The Governor went out on a limb for the gay community in his efforts to support marriage equality and to bring that bill to the Senate floor, even though he knew it did not have sufficient votes to pass and that thousands of people in New York State did not want it and will not support him for election because …

NY Gov. David Paterson says the rumors of his drug use and womanizing are untrue and he has no intention of resigning. Governor David Paterson is fighting back as rumors continue to swirl about a still-unpublished New York Times article that some say could lead to his resignation. On Monday, Paterson told the Associated Press that allegations of recent drug …

Here’s a short slideshow from Saturday’s HRC gala in NYC, courtesy of my able photographer Dr. Jeff. Except for the HRC’s official photographer, media were kept tightly corraled in a roped-off pen in front of the HRC backdrop, so we were pretty much unable to photograph or interview attendees. After all the big shots were trotted off the pre-show stage, …

After Business Insider today published a claim that NY Gov. David Paterson will resign tomorrow upon the publication of an expose’ in the New York Times, Paterson’s office has denied the resignation rumor, but acknowledged the existence of the NYT story. And now, according to the latest rumors from media insiders, the NYT will not be publishing the story tomorrow …

NY Gov. David Paterson took to the media pit podium for some brief remarks in praise of the HRC prior to last night’s fundraising gala in the adjoining grand ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria. My apologies for the shaky camera work, I was getting jostled by the CNN crew on my right. At the end of the clip, I pan …

Reliable political reporter Elizabeth Benjamin reports at the NY Daily News that a potentially career-ending personal scandal will shortly be divulged about NY Gov. David Paterson. Recent claims have been made that state troopers walked in on Paterson and an unidentified woman in a utility closet at the executive mansion. According to Gothamist, the big story (which may or may …