THE RIGHT TO MARRY TAKES CENTER STAGE AT EQUALITY AND JUSTICE DAY

NEW YORKERS RALLY FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY
Civil rights advocates rally in Albany on May 9 in support of legislation
that will improve the lives of LGBT working families in New York State.
photo:  Ove Overmyer

Albany, N.Y. -- On May 9, nearly a 1,200 LGBT advocates and union allies gathered in the Empire State Plaza Convention Center underneath the state house in Albany for what Rochester area Assemblyman Harry Bronson called "a historic day."

Activists from every corner of the state, the North Country, Buffalo and from as far away as Montauk Pt. on Long Island traveled to the state capital in order to lobby legislators for LGBT issues like transgender rights, health services, and, of course marriage equality. The event was sponsored by Empire State Pride Agenda, one of the more influential civil rights groups operating in New York State.

When the Empire State Pride Agenda organized the first rally for gay rights in 1991, marchers were scorned, taunted, chased and verbally assaulted.

What a far cry from Monday's rally, where the organizers seamlessly transitioned activists from one venue to the next, all the while keeping them informed and well fed. Trying to predict the needs of the attendees, ESPA offered workshops, box lunches, coffee, beverages, snacks, sign language interpreters and a "Children's Activity Center," which highlighted toys and an offstage curtained area for tots.  One ESPA organizer told the Voice Reporter, "We've come along way, baby."

The labor community had a strong
showing at Equality and Justice Day
May 9 in Albany, N.Y.
photo:  Ove Overmyer

New York's labor unions support Marriage Equality

Just last week, RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum forwarded an invite to several high profile New Yorkers to attend an upcoming breakfast meeting he’s hosting with NYS AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes.  At the meeting, labor leaders will strategize and discuss this legislative fight over same-sex marriage and other LGBT workplace rights issues.  The event is being held on May 11 in Manhattan.  Appelbaum is an outspoken and influential advocate for working families and marriage equality in New York-- he came out in a very public fashion back in June of 2009.

Marriage cannot be seen as just an issue for the LGBT community," RWDSU chief Stuart Appelbaum told reporters on April 25.  "It is a union issue as well, as demonstrated by the support that has been shown by New York's labor movement. And most importantly it is an issue of importance for anybody who cares about justice. Justice is indivisible. You cannot be for justice for some, and not be for justice for all."

Morning session filled with welcoming speeches

Bronson, who was the first elected official to address the crowd in the convention center, got right to the point. He said, "You can almost feel the winds of victory in the air as more and more people understand our families and support full civil rights of working families. Your support of and advocacy of our civil rights is so vital for our families’ struggle. We will remember this day in the future as the catalyst that started marriage equality for gays and lesbians in New York State."

State representatives like Buffalo area Assembly member Sam Hoyt followed Bronson on stage, as well as Manhattan Sen. Tom Duane and Lieutenant Governor Bob Duffy.

"Marriage equality is a basic issue of civil rights," Duffy told a cheering crowd. "Nobody in this state should ever question or underestimate Governor Cuomo's commitment to marriage equality. The governor has made marriage equality one of his top three legislative issues this year."

Duffy acknowledged the difficulties that a marriage bill would face in the Senate, but voiced optimism. "You have Cuomo's full support, you have my full support," he said. "We have a little fight ahead, but there's something special about this year."

The last speaker of the morning session was Sen. Tom Duane who was emotional as ever. He told attendees that New Yorkers were betrayed by the legislature before (2009) and supporters should not take anything for granted. He added, “We are on the right side of history, and we will not be stopped."

Statewide rally stirs attendees

Union members from UUP rally in Albany for
Equality and Justice Day sponsored by the Empire
State Pride Agenda.
photo:  Ove Overmyer

Monday's demonstrators chanted, "What do we want? Marriage! GENDA! When do we want it? Now!" over and over as organizers filed speaker after speaker to the podium at the West Capital Park around mid-day.  Unions present at the rally included CSEA, AFSCME, UUP, SEIU, NYSUT and various other labor groups.

At the outdoor rally, temperatures got a little heated as organizers engaged the boisterous crowd. "The message being delivered to Albany today is clear-- LGBT New Yorkers and their allies have come to demand equality and justice," said Ross D. Levi, Executive Director of the Empire State Pride Agenda. "We want to move forward on marriage equality, fighting transgender discrimination in the workplace and reducing the health care disparities faced by LGBT New Yorkers."

GENDA gets the attention it deserves

But as the hundreds of advocates rallied on the lawn, GENDA took a more prominent role right along side Marriage Equality this year. GENDA is the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, a bill that would protect transgender people in employment, housing, services and public accommodations. Many New Yorkers do not realize that it is currently legal to deny transgender people these basic rights.

According to a poll by the Empire State Pride Agenda, a full 78 percent of New Yorkers support the passage of such a bill. And 74 percent of transgender people report that they experience harassment or abuse on the job.

"Don't let the sentence end on marriage," pleaded Dru Levasseur a transgender rights activist with Lambda Legal. "Ever since the first shoe was thrown at Stonewall, trans people have been at the forefront of fighting discrimination that all LGBT people face."

Assemblyman Danny O"Donnell
at Albany rally on May 9, 2011.
photo:  Ove Overmyer

Other rally speakers included Miss New York, Claire Buffie, the Rev. Stacie Latimer, as well as Assembly members Teresa Sayward, Matt Titone and Daniel O'Donnell.

O'Donnell told The Voice Reporter that he didn't understand why Gov. Cuomo didn't introduce the marriage bill on Equality and Justice Day. O'Donnell, who is the Assembly sponsor of the bill, seemed impatient and perplexed about the Cuomo no-show and openly shared his displeasure with the bill timeline. "Today should have been the day we introduced this bill," he said.

What's next?

The marriage bill has not yet been introduced this year, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has yet to submit one, for reasons aides refuse to explain when asked by The Voice Reporter. Marriage Equality has had the support of the last three governors, and has passed the Assembly three times.

And yesterday, Cuomo's allies at the Democratic State Committee began using a robo-call of Cuomo urging the passage of the same-sex marriage bill.

While Democratic defeats in last year's elections that gave Republicans control of the state Senate have made things less certain, the bill is expected to have enough support in the Assembly. Its path in the Senate is less clear: advocates are careful not to say they have the votes for its passage, unlike 2009 when, despite their confidence, it failed 38-24.