El Diario Endorses Change
September 2, 2010 by Kim
Filed under News, Politics 3.0
El Diario, the oldest and largest Spanish language newspaper in New York City, has endorsed two pro-marriage equality candidates: Gustavo Rivera and Charlie Ramos.
Both candidates are running against powerful incumbents: Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. and Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., respectively. With a daily readership of over 290,000 people, the El Diario endorsement could potentially reach thousands of Bronx voters.
Of Gustavo Rivera, the endorsement reads:
The time has come to close the door on the politics of “me” and for the politics of “we” to reign. District 33 has a chance to do this on Sept. 14 by supporting Rivera.
To help elect pro-marriage equality candidates, visit the MYD 2010 Campaign Page.
The 7th NYC Wedding March
August 24, 2010 by CASE Committee
Filed under For Your Reading, Take Action
Recently, several of my (smart, progressive, and compassionate) friends have expressed their oddly stern convictions that the issue of marriage equality is a marginal one at best. In these troubled times – two wars, downed economy, etc. – the right to marry, they say, doesn’t deserve the same level of attention as other issues on the Democratic agenda. It’s interesting, though. Framed another way, the “right to marry” contains 1,138 individual rights (that’s according to the Department of Justice – their full, Bush-era report is worth a read, accessible here). It takes some serious mental work to overlook an injustice that big.
Luckily, an opportunity to show your support for the cause of equal rights is fast approaching. Even luckier is that it promises to actually be a good time.
That’s right: On Sunday, September 26th, Marriage Equality New York hosts its seventh annual Wedding March. The result of a partnership of over thirty organizations (including GLAAD, HRC, and, of course, Marriage Equality New York – the state’s largest marriage equality advocate organization), NYC’s March is one in a series of similar events happening that day as far away as California. Kirsten Gillibrand and Christine Quinn serve as honorary event sponsors, as do the painfully good-looking Cheyenne Jackson and Kandi Burruss (seriously. Google them). Registration begins at 10AM in Foley Square Park, followed by a kick off rally at noon, and the actual march – from lower Manhattan all the way across the Brooklyn Bridge – at 1:00PM. Each participant (or group) shows up sporting a color of their choice, forming, during the march, a massive human rainbow. The March itself is short (just over a mile so no excuses on being tired from the night before), and is followed by a “Wedding Reception”/ community festival in Brooklyn with music, speakers, and food.
The event promises to be giant fun, and has the potential to send an important message to our elected officials about the import and urgency of marriage equality. MYD will be there, represented by the CASE Committee and (hopefully) you! Contact Heather Kalachman (hkalachman@gmail.com) or Dan (case@gomyd.com) of CASE for more details and to register for the event. Or, for more general information, check www.meny.us/march.
This post was written by Maddie, a member of the CASE Committee. To join the committee, come to our next meeting on Mon. September 13th 7pm in Union Square or email case@gomyd.com.
Prop 8 Update: Stay Granted, But Hope For A [Relatively] Quick Resolution?
My favorite photo from when we went down to the National Equality March last year.
From Andrew Sullivan, quoting Courage Campaign’s Brian Devine:
First, and drastically most importantly, the Court granted the stay. Consequently the thousands of couples who were waiting for the day of equality will have to wait at least a few more months until December.
Second, the Court wants this case to be resolved quickly. Appellants’ opening brief is due in just a month and the hearing will happen on December 6th. This is lightning quick for a Federal Court of Appeals, and it’s a very good sign. The Court understands that this case is important, and it doesn’t want it to linger.
Third, the Court specifically orders the Prop 8 proponents to show why this case should not be dismissed for lack of standing. Here’s a discussion of the standing issue. This is very good news for us. It shows that the Court has serious doubts about whether the Appellants have standing. Even better, the Court is expressing an opinion that its inclination is that the case should be dismissed. That being said, the panel that issued this Order (the motions panel) is not the same panel that will hear that case on the merits. The merits panel will be selected shortly before December 6th and we don’t know the three judges who will be on the merits panel. But this is a very good sign that the appeal could be dismissed on the ground of standing alone.
Only marginally related, my birthday is Dec. 6. A great birthday present would be for an appeal to be summarily dismissed! Someone work on that, please… And by that I mean — donate to Courage here.
And for good measure, the video that makes me cry every time I watch it:
“Fidelity”: Don’t Divorce… from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.
California Marriages Delayed – Andrew Sullivan
Prop 8: Ted Olson on Fox
From our friends at Courage Campaign, a must-watch excerpt from Ted Olson on Fox news on why Judge Walker’s recent decision to strike down Prop 8 as unconstitutional makes good sense:
“In the 1960s, an equal number of Californians voted to change the state Constitution to allow people to discriminate on the basis of race in the sale of your home. United States Supreme Court struck that down. If 7 million Californians were to decide they wanted separate but equal schools, or that we would send some of our citizens to separate drinking fountains, or have them be in the back of the bus, that would be unconstitutional. If we didn’t have a separation of powers, if we didn’t have the Bill of Rights, 7 million Californians could take away your rights, or my rights, or any of the other rights of the citizens of California.”
PS Could this news anchor be any more biased?!
New Law Would Ban Marriages Between People Who Don’t Love Each Other
August 9, 2010 by Emmy
Filed under For Your Entertainment
<3 the Onion:
New Law Would Ban Marriages Between People Who Don’t Love Each Other
Hat tip: Kim
Walking The Walk
July 13, 2010 by Kim
Filed under Learn Something
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is walking the walk when it comes to marriage equality. Mr. Stringer and his fiancee, Elyse Buxbaum, have decided to tie the knot in Connecticut, rather than his home state of New York.
Stringer tells The New York Times the couple made the decision out of solidarity with gay friends who can’t get married in their home state either
Kudos to Mr. Stringer and Ms. Buxbaum for taking a stand on this issue. If you would like to help pro marriage equality candidates this fall, visit MYD 2010 Campaign page to see how you can get involved!
Politics 3.0: Interactive ME Timeline/Map Reveals Rights Denied All Over America
April 22, 2010 by Emmy
Filed under MYD Itself, Politics 3.0
Too much red = too many human rights denied.
This interactive map from the LA Times represents visually the rights provided same-sex couples, over a timeline starting in 2000. Despite some progress on the coasts, the heartbreaking story I see is watching the country fill up as a sea of red. And it is unacceptable that New York is only a pale green, accepting gay marriage licenses performed elsewhere but nothing more.
ME is one of MYD’s signature issues, and we campaigned extensively on it last year through our NYEquality.com initiative, which sent thousands of letters and emails to State Senators in Albany supporting ME. The legislation came up for a vote in the State Senate last fall, and failed (read the post-vote analysis here). But the fight isn’t over — positions on ME will be a huge factor in determining our support for any State Senate candidate in elections this year. Being a Democrat isn’t good enough — we want real progressives who will fight for the issues that matter to us.
Join the CASE (Community & Social Equity) Committee to take action for ME in New York here and join the 16,000+ strong NYEquality Facebook page here.
Marriage Equality Town Hall Tonight
March 25, 2010 by Taylor
Filed under MYD Itself
Join MYD , Marriage Equality New York, Queens County Young Democrats, NY State Young Democrats and Western Queens for Marriage Equality tonight to discuss the push for marriage rights in New York State.
It’s time to get together and start planning the next steps!
7:00 – 9:00pm
Lesbian and Gay Center Room 410
208 West 13 Street
You can RSVP on Facebook HERE.
Awesome: New Video from Fight Back NY
March 24, 2010 by Andrew
Filed under Uncategorized
Via Liz Benjamin, here’s a new video from the well-funded political action committee that’s been gunning for state senators who voted against marriage equality, starting with Senator Hiram Monserrate. It’s “Jaws-themed” and it’s kind of awesome. Take a look:
It’s Official: Hooligan Hiram is Either Blind or Stupid
March 9, 2010 by Kathleen Kane
Filed under News, Only in NY
Thug, Plagiarizer, and all around disgrace Hiram Monserrate officially kicked off his campaign of shame this afternoon in District 13.
He was hilariously introduced as the “next Senator from Queens,” as if hadn’t been drop-kicked out of the Senate following an alleged attack on his girlfriend.
Continuing in his delusions, he defended his campaign’s blatant ripoff of the Obama branding.
“This logo is similar to the logo that they use but slightly different because the logo actually is a “Q” which stands for the great borough of Queens. If folks had really analyzed it, they would have seen it.”
Uh… We DID.
Here is the Obama Logo (red/blue) next to the Hiram Logo:
Here is the Obama Logo (Monserracolors) next to the Hiram Logo:
And lets not forget the color similarity of the favicon Hiram is using on his site:
And the audacity didn’t stop there! (More choice quotes after the Jump)
