Tag Archives: New York state

We love her.

Today the Empire State Pride Agenda endorsed 2010 NY Senate candidate Charlie Ramos in his bid to unseat the state’s most vile homophobe, Sen. Ruben Diaz. Via press release: As you probably know, Senator Diaz is our most vocal foe on marriage equality and transgender non-discrimination in the State Senate. He led rallies against marriage equality, spoke and voted against …

Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer and his fiance will marry in Connecticut in protest of New York’s unfair marriage law. After five decades of municipal fidelity, Mr. Stringer is refusing to do something rather momentous in the city of his birth: marry. He and his fiancée, Elyse Buxbaum, have decided to wed in Connecticut this year in what they described …

Wal-Mart has spent over $2M in attorney and court fees fighting a measly $7000 fine for that infamous Thanksgiving Day trampling case in which somebody was killed in a sales-frenzy stampede. The company is concerned that once OSHA starts successfully fining them, then they’ll really have to play by the rules. In fighting the federal fine, Wal-Mart is arguing that …

The just-crowned Miss New York is a winner in a more ways than one. Miss New York 2010, Claire Buffie, is an outspoken advocate of human rights, opening the dialogue about equality amongst youth, teens and adults alike with her platform “Straight for Equality: Let’s Talk.” The issues of gay rights make up the civil rights movement of our generation …

The Human Rights Campaign has hired Bloomberg aide Brian Ellner to head a new group to take on New York’s anti-marriage state politicians. The Campaign for New York Marriage will do similar work to that of the Tim Gill-funded Fight Back NY. You may recall that Ellner was recently all but named to replace Alan Van Capelle as head of …

NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the favorite to replace David Paterson as governor, says he is confident that he can make same-sex marriage a reality during his first year in office. Via Advocate: “My opinion, from my policy point of view, it is a priority,” he said. State of Politics reports that, “He also voiced confidence that he could get …

Two weeks ago openly gay New York state Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell sponsored an addendum to the state budget that would allow legally married same-sex couples to jointly file their state income tax returns. Senate Democrats need their full one-vote majority to approve the budget, but arch homophobe Sen. Ruben Diaz threatened to derail the entire mega-billions funding package unless O’Donnell’s …

The NYCLU has begun a campaign to relaunch the fight for marriage equality in New York. All New Yorkers deserve the freedom to marry. New Yorkers across the state and political spectrum agree, and so does the State Assembly and Governor Paterson. Sadly, at the end of 2009, the New York State Senate voted against marriage fairness. Though the vote …

The anti-bullying Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) has finally passed in the New York Senate after nine consecutive years of shooting the bill down. A large part of the credit for this success goes, of course, to the bill’s Assembly sponsor, Daniel O’Donnell and its Senate sponsor, openly gay Sen. Thomas Duane. The bill passed overwhelmingly in the Assembly …

Openly gay New York state Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell today introduced legislation that would allow legally married gay couples to jointly file their state income tax returns. Via press release: If enacted, New York State would recognize legal same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions regardless of whether the federal government does so. Specifically, A.11479 creates an exception to the statutory rule …

Two gay seniors at a Hudson, New York high school have been named their school’s prom king and queen. The boys are best friends. Seniors Charlie Ferrusi and Timmy Howard won their respective crown and tiara by a landslide Saturday and said the support they received from their peers and school administration has been fun and humbling. “It’s a really …

Yesterday New York state’s long-pending transgender rights bill, GENDA, died in the state Senate Judiciary Committee, one vote shy of passage. Many are blaming GENDA’s failure on the bill’s lone dissenting Democrat, the notorious Bronx homophobe Sen. Ruben Diaz. But today we learned that the International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), a national gym owners consortium with hundreds of …

Today the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act failed to move out of the New York Senate Judiciary Committee by ONE vote. And who was the lone dissenting Democratic vote that killed the bill? Our old nemesis, the evil Sen. Ruben Diaz. Via press release from the Empire State Pride Agenda: Today the Senate Judiciary Committee took up the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination …

Tomorrow the New York state Senate Judiciary Committee votes on the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) after having been twice passed by the state Assembly. It appears that there are enough votes in the full Senate for GENDA to pass, should it get out of committee. Via Dr. Jillian Weiss at Bilerico, here’s a rundown of the vote and contact …

Defend The Law has launched a petition campaign asking all of the 2010 candidates for New York Attorney General if they will pledge to sue the federal government to overturn DOMA, as is being done by Massachusetts AG Martha Coakley. Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice and candidate for Attorney General voluntarily said two weeks ago that she would sue …

Fight Back New York, the action PAC formed to fight anti-gay New York legislators, has launched an amusing attack on state Sen. Ruben “Reverend” Diaz. Go play here.

New Yorkers Matt Borden and Rachel Henes say they are ditching the Empire State to hold their wedding in Connecticut, a move they are making as a show of solidarity to LGBT New Yorkers who cannot legal wed in their own state. Borden is chief of staff to Assemblymember Deborah Glick, New York’s first openly gay state legislator. They’re hoping …