The Struggle for Marriage Equality Continues
December 2, 2009
As a member of the LGBT caucus of New York State legislators, I share in the frustration of my community after today’s disappointing vote in the State Senate.
I am extremely proud to be a co-sponsor of the marriage equality bill and to have been part of the Assembly’s historic vote, first in June of 2007, and twice since then, including early this morning as the Assembly passed the measure for the third time. I know that my vote for equality is one of the most important votes I will ever make as a lawmaker.
Despite the tally of votes in the Senate, I believe the fact that the bill came to the floor for debate is a victory unto itself. Polls clearly show that New Yorkers believe in civil rights, oppose discrimination, and agree with marriage equality. No longer do New Yorkers need to wonder whether their Senator stands for the cause of equality or in defense of contemptuous bigotry. Now we know the yeas and the nays, and that knowledge brings us power. I believe that 2010 will bring in a new legislature, one that is truly for all the people of this great state.
I want to thank Senator Tom Duane, and in my own house, Assembly Members Daniel O’Donnell, Deborah Glick, and Matt Titone, for their tremendous leadership and advocacy for the cause of equality.
We will prevail. The drumbeat for marriage equality is loud and clear, and this is an issue whose time has come.
A Personal Message: Marriage Equality Passes Assembly **AND** Rally for Marriage, Sunday
May 14, 2009
I was proud to be part of history and vote in favor of same-sex marriage when the bill was first passed by a margin of 85-61 in the New York State Assembly back in 2007. On May 12th, I once again cast my vote for equality, after a long and emotional debate (I will post video from the debate here, as soon as I get a chance to). We should all celebrate the fact that the bill was passed by an even wider margin (89-52); the message of the marriage equality movement—that love and family know no gender—continues to win hearts and minds.
In 2007, I said that voting in favor of the right to marry was the most important vote I would ever cast, and I still know this to be true. I hope that the second time will be the charm. I am grateful to my friend Assembly Member Daniel O’Donnell for his leadership in the Assembly and I pray that 2009 will be the year the State Senate will finally pass the bill, under the leadership of Senator Tom Duane, so that Governor Paterson can sign it and we can finally have equality for all.
This Sunday, after AIDS Walk, I will be taking part in an important rally for marriage equality being organized collaboratively by Broadway Impact, Marriage Equality NY, the Empire State Pride Agenda, Broadway Cares, CivilRightsFront.com, and the Human Rights Campaign. The rally, billed as “LET THE SUN SHINE IN!” is being held from 5-7 pm at Sixth Avenue and West 45th Street, will feature the cast of the Broadway production of Hair, along with many other special guests.
The invitation is below, you can click here to download a PDF of the flyer to distribute to your friends, family, and colleagues. I hope to see you there!
10-Bill Package to Protect the Rights of Tenants Passes Assembly
February 4, 2009
Anyone who rents in New York City knows that the rent laws are broken and our City’s affordable housing stock is in crisis. Over the past decade we have watched as speculation in multi-family housing resulted in the harassment and eviction of families from their homes.
I’m proud to say that earlier this week, the Assembly acted to update and strengthen New York’s rent laws. For your information, these ten bills are listed below. The bill package is now headed to the Senate.
A.2005 (Rosenthal) - Repeals vacancy decontrol laws that allow landlords to deregulate apartments. The bill also re-regulates thousands of units that are renting for less than $5000/month.
A.1686 (Lopez) - Reduces the maximum amount a landlord can increase the rent on a vacated apartment from 20% to 10%.
A.860 (Bing) - Adjusts income decontrol thresholds to more accurately reclect present day realities and tie income decontrol thresholds to inflation in the NYC metropolitan area.
A.1687 (Lopez) - Require former Section 8 properties to be automatically subject to rent regulation.
A.1685 (Lopez) - Limit a landlord’s ability to recover an apartment for personal use to one unit per property.
A.1688 ( Lopez) - Repeals the Urstadt Law, allowing New York City to make its own rent laws.
A.857 (Bing) - Maintains the rents for tenants at their same levels when a building leaves the Mitchell-Lama program and enters rent stabilization.
A.1928 (O’Donnell) - Extends the length of time during which major capital improvement (MCI) expenses are recovered by landlords so that the costs to tenants are more spread out. Also, prohibits rent surcharges for MCIs after the costs of the improvement have already been recovered.
A.2002 (Silver) - Creates civil penalties for tenant harassment and raises penalties on landlords that violate DHCR housing codes.
A.465 (Jeffries) - Protects tenants with preferential rental agreements from exorbirant rent increases.
Lighting Up the Night for Marriage Equality
January 5, 2009
On December 20th, State Senator Tom Duane and I took part in a powerful event organized by Join the Impact, a grassroots national organization that is fighting for marriage equality. The march and rally was coined “Light Up the Night for Equality” and hundreds of LGBT people and their friends braved some pretty cold temperatures to march from Bryant Park to Times Square and rally for marriage rights. In the video above, Senator Duane’s remarks start at about 2:30 and mine start at about 3:15.
The event was a national one with similar rallies being held all over the country. The candles were held in vigil in rememberance of the rights that may have been lost to the over 18,000 couples in California whose legal status is now up in the air after the passage of the homophobic Proposition 8 last November.
Last year, I was proud to be part of history and vote in favor of same-sex marriage when the bill sponsored by Assembly Member Danny O’Donnell was passed by the New York State Assembly. While there is a long way to go until same-sex couples can legally marry in New York (the New York State Senate must also pass the bill before the Governor can sign it into law), step by step we are coming closer to marriage equality.
Huge Victory for Same-Sex Couples Married in Other Jurisdictions
June 12, 2008
Saturday June 14th, join me and Marriage Equality New York at 2:00 pm at City Hall, for a historic 5th anniversary celebration of legal same-sex marriage in Canada.
Last year, I was proud to be part of history and vote in favor of same-sex marriage when the bill was passed by the New York State Assembly. While there is a long way to go until same-sex couples can legally marry in New York (the New York State Senate must also pass the bill before the Governor can sign it into law), step by step we are coming closer to marriage equality.
The right to marry is a basic human right. Last month, the lesbian, gay, and bisexual caucus of the New York State Legislature (myself, Assembly Members Daniel O’Donnell, Deborah Glick, and Matt Titone, and State Senator Tom Duane) wrote to Governor Paterson asking him to take another important step forward and use his executive powers to ensure that state agencies recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions (same-sex couples can legally marry in Canada, Belgium, Spain, South Africa, Massachusetts - and soon - California). We wrote this letter after the landmark Martinez v. County of Monroe decision made it clear earlier this year that New York must recognize these out of jurisdiction marriages. In Martinez, a public employee challenged a decision denying her right to extend benefits to her wife, and won.
After the court case was won, we realized that either married couples would have to challenge non-conforming agencies one by one or the state could choose to follow the law and make these changes operationalized throughout the entire state voluntarily. Luckily, Governor Paterson is a great friend to the LGBT community and had already been contemplating these issues himself. His directive was announced in the press a few days after our letter was sent. Here is a New York Times article that gives further background for those who are interested.
This change will have an enormously important and positive impact on these married couples’ lives. There are literally thousands of rights that have been denied to them, from joint income tax filing to the right to add a spouse on a rent regulated lease to inheriting a hunting license if a spouse dies. Governor Paterson deserves all our thanks for this simple yet powerful directive, we are all enhanced as citizens whenever human rights victories are won.
If you have questions about what this means for you and your family, the Empire State Pride Agenda has an excellent resource page on their website to explain what this means for same-sex couples.
**Update 6/14/2008*** The MENY event at City Hall was a beatuiful event, with dozens of couples who were married in Canada and a representative from the Canadian consulate. Pictured below, my Chief of Staff, Eliyanna Kaiser (center), and her wife Danielle DeCerbo (left) hold their giant British Columbia marriage certificate at the event.
Photo by Jeremy Wilson.
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