TODAY: Day Of Action To Pass Trans Rights In New York State Senate

The Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act has passed in the New York Assembly SEVEN times, but shamefully it has never been allowed to come to a vote in the state Senate. Today openly gay Sen. Brad Hoylman (above right) and Sen. Daniel Squadron will attend a rally at the state capitol building. Via press release from the Empire State Pride Agenda:

“It is unconscionable that, in most of the state, an individual can lose his or her job or home or be denied the right eat at a restaurant based on gender identity or expression," said New York City Public Advocate Letitia James. "These are not hypothetical scenarios—one out of every three transgender New Yorkers have been homeless; two out of three experience discrimination at work; and one in five have been fired explicitly for being transgender. New York City is one of only 11 cities and counties in New York State that have passed local GENDA laws. Outside these communities, this despicable discrimination is perfectly legal. GENDA is a basic human rights law and it must be passed statewide and it must be passed this year to secure the most fundamental protections against discrimination."

Come on New York, this is embarrassing.

Empire State Pride Agenda Slams St. Patrick's Day Parade Rule Change

Via press release:

The news that the organizers of the St. Patrick's Day Parade will allow one LGBT group – OUT at NBC Universal – to march under its own banner for the first time strikes us as disappointing and self-serving. While this development is long overdue, inviting one group to march at the exclusion of all others and continuing to refer to our vibrant community as “gay” when it is in fact lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, is a far stretch from the full inclusion we deserve. New York is known for its diversity and inclusive spirit. Discrimination against LGBT people in New York City is illegal, and we're proud to host the country's largest LGBT pride parade down the very same street, in fact, on which we're denied participation each March. We must continue the momentum from this small step in the right direction and call for full equality not tomorrow, but today.

NYC Mayor De Blasio's Budget Adds Funding For Homeless LGBT Youth

Yesterday New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio unveiled his first budget in a $73.5B expenditure plan that includes new funding to aid the city's large population of homeless LGBT youth.

“This is a progressive administration. Our budget will be a progressive budget,” de Blasio said. The budget includes restoring $8.3 million in 2014 for homeless services that was slashed by the Bloomberg administration as well as allocating millions more. The city would also add $4.3 million for community-based mental health funding and other health agency reduction, as well as adding $1.3 million in spending for LGBTQ youth and runaway prevention. Public Advocate Letitia James said she was encouraged by the increased funding for social services. "Mayor de Blasio’s progressive budgetary approach is a departure from the last 12 years of budget dances that put firehouses, municipal workers, and crucial services on the chopping block," James said.

The Empire State Pride Agenda reacts via press release.

Delivering on his campaign promise to address the crisis of runaway and homeless youth – which disproportionately impacts the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community – the proposed budget adds 75 shelter beds at $1.3 million in 2014 and $2.4 million next year. The work of partner organizations in the Campaign for Youth Shelter and the Ali Forney Center underscores the urgent need for more beds for our most vulnerable. We urge the City Council to adopt this budget and consider how much more is still needed until every young person has a warm bed in which to start and end their day.

An estimated 40% of New York City's homeless youth identify as LGBT.

Empire State Pride Agenda Endorses Christine Quinn For NYC Mayor

Via press release from Empire State Pride Agenda executive director Nathan Schaefer:

I could not be more enthusiastic about sharing the following announcement with you: the Empire State Pride Agenda’s Political Action Committee has just announced our endorsement of New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn for Mayor of New York City. This is an amazing moment for us and our movement. We have the opportunity to seat an out lesbian at the helm of the biggest city in the nation. The Pride Agenda endorsement recognizes Christine Quinn’s unmatched record on LGBT rights over the last two decades. As Director of the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project she fought bias crimes citywide and insisted that law enforcement pay greater attention to anti-gay violence. During her years as Chair of the New York City Council Health Committee, she successfully protected funding for HIV and AIDS services. As Speaker of New York City Council, she spearheaded the effort to pass laws ensuring dignity and protections against bullying for all students and was a leader in the historic, successful campaign for marriage equality for all New Yorkers.

To my knowledge, ESPA is the first major LGBT group to endorse Quinn, who has not yet officially announced her candidacy.

ESPA Has A New Executive Director

The Empire State Pride Agenda has named former Gay Men's Health Crisis public policy director Nathan Schaefer as their new executive director. Schaefer says his first goal is the passage of GENDA, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act.

NEW YORK: Empire State Pride Agenda Fires Executive Director Ross Levi

The Empire State Pride Agenda has let go its executive director, Ross Levi. Paul Schindler reports at Gay City News:

Barely eight months after New York State’s gay rights movement won its biggest victory ever, with the enactment of marriage equality, the Empire State Pride Agenda, the state’s LGBT lobby, has fired its executive director, Ross Levi. The action came in a March 5 conference call with members of the boards of the organization’s two arms –– the Empire State Pride Agenda, Inc., its lobbying and political action component, and the Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation, Inc., which does educational, organizing, and advocacy work on behalf of the LGBT community.

The two boards, which have some overlap, include nearly three-dozen members. According to two board members who deliberated on the call but wished to remain anonymous, the decision was broadly embraced by those participating on March 5. In a call with Gay City News, the group’s two board leaders –– Louis A. Bradbury and Marla Hassner –– confirmed Levi’s departure. He “will be stepping down” effective April 6, said Hassner, a co-chair of ESPA’s foundation and vice chair of the lobbying and political action arm. Asked how the phrase “stepping down” squared with the boards’ decision to terminate Levi’s employment, Hassner said, “The Pride Agenda does not comment on personnel matters.”

This morning the Pride Agenda released this statement:

“We greatly appreciate Ross's twelve years with the organization. He has been part of the Pride Agenda's major legislative victories, culminating in the momentous marriage win last year,” said Louis Bradbury, co-chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation and chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda. “We wish Ross the very best in his future endeavors."

Ross declined to speak to Gay City News. Read their full report.

Cuomo Calls For Gay Marriage Everywhere

As last night's annual fall gala for the Empire State Pride Agenda, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for all states to legalize same-sex marriage.

Shifting his sights beyond New York in a way he has not done before, Mr. Cuomo demanded that the federal Defense of Marriage Act be repealed. His voice rising in intensity as he spoke, he also called for federal legislation that would bar discrimination against gay men and lesbians in housing and employment. And in his most forceful terms to date, Mr. Cuomo called for his counterparts across the country to embrace what he framed as an issue of equal rights and to push for the legalization of same-sex marriage in their own statehouses. “We need marriage equality in every state in this nation,” Mr. Cuomo said. “Otherwise, no state really has marriage equality, and we will not rest until it is a reality.”

(Video via - Think Progress)

New York Marriage Reactions

Empire State Pride Agenda

“Love and fairness wins the day for all New Yorkers and our families. Today is a historic day and a victory for equality and justice – it is the culmination of many years of work by the Pride Agenda and others across the state,” said Ross D. Levi, Executive Director of the Empire State Pride Agenda. “We are thrilled that finally all loving, committed New Yorkers will be able to make the commitment of marriage here in the Empire State.”

NY Sen. Thomas Duane

"There are rare moments when the historical significance of an action speaks for itself and words can’t capture the magnitude. This is one such moment. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) New Yorkers will no longer be denied the right to marry the ones they love. For the first time in New York’s rich history they will be granted equal protection under the law. I want to commend the incredible leadership and passion of Governor Andrew Cuomo who made good on his promise to make Marriage Equality the law in New York State. I also want to thank my colleagues in the State Senate on both sides of the aisle, and in the Assembly, who took a courageous stand when it would have been far easier for them to turn away from what I know for many was a difficult issue."

NY Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell

"Thomas Jefferson once wrote, 'our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions.' Today, the New York State Legislature has affirmed the truth of that fundamental principle with the passage of the Marriage Equality Act. I am proud to have played a central role in this crucial moment for our state. Once Marriage Equality is signed into law, our state will be the most populous in the entire nation with these rights. I hope that with this prominence, our great state will shine as a beacon of equality and lead other states from the darkness of injustice. I will never forget this day."

Freedom To Marry

"Winning the freedom to marry in New York truly is a transformative moment for committed couples and for our country, a triumph for love and equality under the law,” said Evan Wolfson, founder and President of Freedom to Marry. “Now that we’ve made it here, we’ll make it everywhere – and as Americans’ hearts open and minds continue to change in favor of the freedom to marry, the momentum coming from New York’s giant step forward brings a nationwide end to marriage discrimination closer than ever.”

American Foundation for Equal Rights

“New Yorkers have plenty to celebrate this Pride Month. There’s no doubt that today will be revered as a major turning point in civil rights history. A bipartisan group of legislators have affirmed that equal rights for every citizen is not a partisan issue, but an American value. Yet for millions of Americans who do not live in New York, Washington DC, or the five other states that have recognized the constitutional rights of gay and lesbian Americans, they are still suffering the injustice of discrimination every day. The freedom to marry is a constitutional liberty and the birthright of every American. Constitutional rights belong to every individual, regardless of the state you inhabit. This has recently been affirmed within the past year by federal courts in our nation’s most prominent civil rights cases."

Monday In Albany: Empire State Pride Agenda's Equality And Justice Day

Find more details here.

NEW YORK: Gay Rights Group Unite On Concentrated Push For Marriage

A coalition of LGBT rights group has formed to make a concentrated push for marriage equality in New York state. Via press release:

New Yorkers United for Marriage, an unprecedented alliance that includes Empire State Pride Agenda, Freedom to M arry, Human Rights Campaign and Marriage Equality New York will build on the growing momentum for marriage and groundwork already laid across the state - with the goal of enacting a bill before the end of the current legislative session. "Today, we stand closer than ever to allowing all loving, committed couples to legally marry here in New York," said Ross Levi, Executive Director of the Empire State Pride Agenda. "We've sent a loud and clear message during the last two years that supporting the LGBT community isn't just the right thing to do, but it's also good politics, and this unprecedented coalition will amplify that message.”

The New York Times reports that the coalition is being led by the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Under the supervision of the governor’s staff, the groups intend to raise more than $1 million for a media blitz, hire a powerful political consultant close to the Cuomo administration and deploy field organizers to the districts of more than a dozen key lawmakers to drum up support, according to interviews with those involved in the effort. In contrast to their failed drive for a marriage bill two years ago, the advocates envision a short, disciplined and intense run-up to a vote in the State Legislature, raising the prospect that gay couples may be allowed to wed in New York by early summer. Their overriding aim: avoid the mistakes and miscommunications of 2009, when those lobbying for same-sex marriage sent conflicting messages, misjudged the opposition and won far fewer votes than they had predicted. After passing in the Assembly, the bill was defeated in the Senate, 38 to 24.

Empire State Pride Agenda Calls For Ouster Of Arch Homophobe NY Sen. Ruben Diaz

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 it on the Senate floor and is reported to have struck back room deals trying to prevent it from ever even coming to a vote. He led the debate against the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act in the Senate Judiciary Committee with unfounded and disproven myths. And he asserted a “one-man veto” to remove budgetary language that would have allowed legally married same-sex couples to file jointly on their New York State income tax returns.

In stark contrast, Charlie Ramos has committed to co-sponsoring marriage equality legislation, and has stated his full support for a statewide transgender non-discrimination law. He is also pro-choice and supports full access to reproductive health. Senator Diaz and all state legislators need to know that their attacks against the LGBT community will not go unanswered. New Yorkers understand fairness and equality, and want legislators who work to better the lives of their constituents and their families, not to find opportunities to discriminate against them. We want to send a loud and clear message that it is unacceptable that Senator Diaz chooses to thwart equality and justice for all New Yorkers.

Contribute to ESPA's 2010 PAC here.

NEW YORK: Ross Levi Tapped To Head Empire State Pride Agenda

The Empire State Pride Agenda has named Ross Levi as its new executive director. Levi has been with ESPA for ten years and since 2006 had been its director of public policy and education. Levi replaces Alan Van Capelle, who departed in February to be chief of staff for NYC Comptroller John Liu. Some have pointed to the failure of ESPA to push through the New York Senate's marriage equality bill as part of the reason that Van Capelle resigned.

Levi's appointment comes after weeks of ugly not-quite behind the scenes dissent about the position's original front-runner, Brian Ellner, an aide to Michael Bloomberg. (Oh, the emails I've gotten.) Allen Roskoff, the head of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, threatened to cut all ties between his group and ESPA were Ellner to get the job. Ellner had all but been publicly named for the position and had even contacted top state politicians to say he looked forward to working with them, but withdrew his candidacy one day before the announcement was to be made.

Action Alert: GENDA Phonebanking In NYC

The Empire State Pride Agenda is looking for volunteers for a phone-banking push to get the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) passed in the New York Senate.

The phone banking schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, March 2nd
Thursday, March 4th

Tuesday, March 9th
Thursday, March 11th

Phone banks take place at our NYC office at 16 West 22nd St. 2nd floor, between 5th and 6th Aves. from 5:30pm-8:30 pm. Volunteers are free to come at any time between these hours.

Thirteen states and Washington DC have comprehensive transgender protections in place, but not New York state. Please consider dropping by the ESPA offices after work on the above dates and helping out.

New York Senate Approves Partner Healthcare Bill

Seventeen years after its approval by the state Assembly, the New York Senate has finally approved the Family Health Care Decisions Act. Domestic partners will now have priority over biological family members when it comes to the medical needs of an incapacitated partner. Via press release from the Empire State Pride Agenda (my bolding):

New York has been one of just two states where without a health care proxy, no one—not a domestic partner, spouse, or family member—could make health care decisions when the patient lacked the ability to do so. This gap in state law has sometimes forced loved ones to seek medical decision-making authority from a judge at the very time they should be focusing all their attention on caring for their partner.

Now, loved ones including same-sex spouses who were married out-of-state or fit the domestic partnership definition will have the ability to make these decisions. The domestic partnership definition is expansive, and includes those who may not be able to formally record their relationship because there is no domestic partner registry where they live. The Pride Agenda was instrumental in the redrafting of this domestic partner language to make sure it was uniform with all other domestic partner definitions in state law, such as that found in the hospital visitation bill that became law in 2004 and the control of bodily remains bill that became law in 2006.

Gov. Paterson has pledged to sign the bill.

Alan Van Capelle Leaves Pride Agenda

Empire State Pride Agenda executive director Alan Van Capelle is stepping down for a position in the office of NYC Comptroller John Liu. The departure comes shortly after ESPA's years-long attempt to bring marriage equality to New York failed in the state Senate.

Van Capelle is breaking the news this morning to the staff at ESPA, where his seven-year tenure makes his the organization's longest-serving executive director. He will be Liu's deputy comptroller for external affairs, serving as a chief advisor on intergovernmental relations, politics and communications. He will start his new job in early March. "Executive directors tend to have a shelf life of five or six years," van Capelle told me this morning. "I think change is good. Period. The tremendous success the Pride Agenda has had over the last seven years may have been while I was executive director, but it wasn't solely because I was executive director....There are a lot of talented people who could lead this movement. My departure will provide an opportunity for somebody else." Van Capelle's departure comes almost two months after the LGBT community suffered a significant setback in the fight for marriage when the Senate defeated the measure, 24-38.

Comptroller Liu is said to be planning a 2013 run for NYC mayor. His hiring of Van Capelle may be part of laying the groundwork for LGBT support for that campaign. The recently elected Liu is a piece of work who makes his employees stand when he enters the room. They may only address him as "Mr. Comptroller." Good luck with that, Alan.

The Pride Agenda On Hope For 2010

New from the Empire State Pride Agenda:

On December 2, 2009 the New York State Senate rejected a bill that would have allowed same-sex couples to marry. New Yorkers responded to the vote with sadness and anger, but mostly with renewed determination to win. Join the Pride Agenda as we continue fighting for equal rights for all LGBT New Yorkers and our families.

Watch the inspiring video. I see some JMG readers in those angry crowds.

Already?? Trouble For Pride Agenda's First 2010 NY Senate Pick

Yesterday the Empire State Pride Agenda announced their endorsement of NY Assemblyman Jose Peralta in his bid to unseat NY Sen. Hiram Monserrate, who stunned activists with his betrayal on marriage last week. But today we learn that Peralta may not be a squeaky-clean choice. Via NY Daily News:

Queens Assemblyman Jose Peralta landed more than $500,000 in taxpayer money for a nonprofit that never filed federal tax records, has no employees and has been inactive for more than two years. Peralta helped organize the Corona-Elmhurst Center for Economic Development after joining the Legislature, and for years it was located in the same building as his campaign office. This year, he and his chief political consultants have continued to lobby state and city lawmakers for additional grants for the dormant group, the Daily News has learned. Until a month ago, the Corona-Elmhurst group maintained an office at 104-01 Roosevelt Ave., in a two-story commercial building, where Peralta rents space for his election committee. The building is owned by Dr. Mercedes Mota-Martinez, a dentist who runs a clinic on the building's upper floor and who also employs Peralta's mother, Rosa Hernandez, as an office manager.

Well, that doesn't look good, does it? There's more to the story and Peralta may be in the clear here, but so far this gets a big "uh-oh."

In related news. today Peralta slammed Monserrate as "a liar and and abuser," referring to Monserrate's recent conviction for slashing his girlfriend's face with a broken glass.

Assemblyman Jose Peralta has unleashed his harshest criticism of his primary opponent, Sen. Hiram Monserrate, to date, calling his fellow Queens Democrat "a liar and an abuser." Peralta's attack came in response to Monserrate's appearance on NY1's "The Road to City Hall" last night - his first one-on-one interview since he was sentenced last week following his conviction in October on a misdemeanor charge of assaulting his girlfriend, Karla Giraldo. Peralta said he was "appalled and disgusted by what I heard and saw.

The Daily News' reliable Elizabeth Benjamin notes: "It's interesting that the assemblyman has chosen to ratchet up his criticism of his target on the same day the DN's Juan Gonzalez reported Peralta has directed some $500,000 worth of taxpayer funds to a nonprofit of dubious standing to which he has a personal connection."

Yup, that's interesting.

Pride Agenda Endorses First Opponent To Democratic Anti-Marriage Senators

The Empire State Pride Agenda is fast out of the gate, today making its first endorsement of an opponent to one of the eight Senate Democrats who voted against marriage equality. Via press release.

The Empire State Pride Agenda announced today its endorsement of Assemblymember José Peralta in the 2010 Democratic Primary Election for State Senate District 13 in Queens. Assemblymember Peralta is challenging Hiram Monserrate, the incumbent State Senator who last week reneged on a stated commitment in a 2008 Pride Agenda candidate questionnaire to support marriage equality legislation and voted “no” when the bill was brought to the Senate floor on December 2. “José Peralta has demonstrated time and time again that he is a champion of equality and justice for all New Yorkers and has consistently represented the interests of his district in the New York State Assembly,” said Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle. “His record on LGBT issues demonstrates that he does not duck-and-run when our bills come up for a vote. He has stood up for us in the Assembly, and we will stand with him in his race for the State Senate.”

Jose Peralta voted "yes" on marriage all three times it came up in the NY Assembly. The NY Senate has yet to decide what, if anything, they will do about Hiram Monserrate's assault conviction.

NY Marriage Vote Reactions

NY Sen. Thomas Duane, via press release:

Today’s vote against Marriage Equality makes me very angry. Promises made were not honored. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, and all fair-minded New Yorkers have been betrayed. I am enraged, deeply disappointed and profoundly saddened by the vote today. In 2006, when the New York State Court of Appeals shamefully ruled that the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community did not have equal protection under the law in relation to Marriage Equality, I predicted that passing legislation to right this wrong in the State Senate would be a profound personal and sadly political battle.I have been proven right.

NY Gov. David Paterson, via press release:

It is always darkest before the dawn. The darkest day in the history of the American civil rights movement was in 1857 when the Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott, making slavery legal north of the 36th parallel. That was the darkest day for the abolitionists. But when we look back in history, we forget that this was only five years before the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in September of 1862. I understand the anger; I understand the frustration; I understand the feeling of betrayal; and I understand the profound disappointment of those who came to Albany today thinking they could get married tomorrow. But I am also here to tell you that we are not back to square one.

Empire State Pride Agenda, via press release:

While we are disappointed by today’s vote, we are pleased that the issue of marriage equality at last was debated in the New York State Senate. We had long called for a public debate on this matter so we could determine who was truly on our side. It is a step forward for our democratic process in New York that a debate and vote have now occurred. Now we know where we stand, and where we need to concentrate our efforts in the future. We are incredibly thankful to those who have stood with us and will continue to stand with us as our community presses forward to win marriage equality. In this regard: We thank Governor Paterson for his unstinting support.

Stonewall Democrats, via press release:

In New York, among the bluest of blue states, not one Republican Senator could muster the courage or integrity to vote to expand the protections of marriage to same-gender couples, an expansion supported by a majority of New Yorkers -- a move that would have also brought millions of dollars into state coffers and New York's struggling economy.For pro-equality voters in New York, and those around the country, the choice between the parties could not be clearer. New York Democrats led this fight for marriage equality, stood in the Senate chamber and gave moving statements in support of their positions, while New York Republicans could not even be bothered to justify their votes to continue the discriminatory status quo. Today's vote also demonstrates that we must be critical in examining those in our own ranks. We cannot allow the Democratic Party to harbor intolerance or hatred of any kind. On a day marked by disappointment, at least now we know which Democrats need to be held accountable on primary day next year."

Paterson Calls Special Session For Nov. 10th - Senate Marriage Vote Possible

Although he originally promised that it would occur this week, NY Gov. David Paterson has called the state legislature back for a special "unfinished business" session to be held on November 10th, during which same-sex marriage may finally be voted upon by the state Senate.

Paterson wants what is technically called an extraordinary session on Nov. 10 that would address the deficit and take on unfinished business. The regular session ended in June. The special session is expected to include a possible vote by the Senate to give final legislative approval to a same-sex marriage bill. Paterson has predicted the bill will be passed and signed into law in coming weeks. Paterson also is asking legislative leaders to call a rare joint session of the Legislature on Nov. 9, where he plans to address the Senate and Assembly on the need to act on the deficit and reduce spending.

It remains doubtful that marriage equality could pass this Senate, even with a slim Democratic majority, however as Empire State Pride Agenda head Alan Van Capelle told the audience at last week's annual dinner, it's far, far past time that we know where each senator truly stands - and can then move to support or oppose them.