04/28/2009
New Yorkers Lobby for Marriage Equality in Albany #ejday
Two thousand LGBT New Yorkers are in Albany today to lobby lawmakers on marriage equality for the Empire State Pride Agenda's 'Equality and Justice day'. Here's the view inside the convention center. A rally in West Capitol Park is set to begin in 15 minutes.
The Human Rights Campaign posted these photos to Twitter
just a few moments ago. Said Paterson, according to HRC: "We are all
coming together to make sure justice prevails for everyone!”
The NYDN reports Paterson received a thunderous ovation: "Van Capelle called Paterson 'New York's governor, our governor, the next governor.' The crowd responded by jumping to its feet with wild chants of 'David! David! David!' Paterson welcomed them all and said: 'When you leave, Albany will have pride.' The governor, who recently introduced a program bill to legalize gay marriage as part of his political comeback effort, then went into a long riff on how 'sometimes it takes a disciplined effort and some losses to get a victory.' He said later he was merely trying to rally supporters, not end a signal that the bill won't pass this year, despite the fact that the 32 votes Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith has said he needs before moving the measure to the floor have yet to materialize. Paterson suggested those who oppose the bill are doing so out of 'guilt.'
Attendees expected include Governor David Paterson; Assemblymembers Daniel O’Donnell & Richard Gottfried, & other elected officials; Kate Hathaway, PFLAG member & mother of actor Anne Hathaway; Alan Lubin, NYS United Teachers; Bishop Prince Singh, Episcopal Diocese of Rochester; Donna Lieberman, NYCLU; Arrie Moore, Spectrum Transgender Group of Western NY; Rabbi Marcelo Bronstein, Congregation B'nai Jeshurun; Alan Van Capelle, Empire State Pride Agenda.
Families and clergy are also present (below, left and right)
New York magazine's Chris Rovzar reports: "This morning, Governor Paterson addressed the group. 'Let not Proposition 8 be a detriment, let it be a call to arms,' he said to a standing ovation, comparing the timing of the current struggle for marriage equality to women's suffrage, emancipation, and the Americans With Disabilities Act — all civil-rights leaps that were defeated less than a decade before they were passed....State Assemblyman Danny O'Donnell noted that the marriage-equality bill, introduced by Governor Paterson, will be put to a vote on Monday. It passed there the last time it went to a vote, and O'Donnell vowed it swiftly would again. 'I would not want to be standing in the path of this movement,' he added. 'This is about humanity.'"
Posted 12:06 PM EST by Andy Towle in David Paterson, Gay Marriage, Human Rights Campaign, New York, News | Permalink
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So... were there any undecided or hostile state senators present, or was it really more of a rally than lobbying?
Posted by: Pender | Apr 28, 2009 12:27:00 PM
It's a lobbying day which also served as a rally because so many people attended. But only a certain number of people are allowed to lobby each representative, so they actually had to turn people away. Hope you'll keep us posted with updates!
Posted by: Timmeeeyyy | Apr 28, 2009 2:37:39 PM
I was there yesterday. VERY cool to be a part of.
The way it worked was we arrived and had speakers (what you read above) and then we had scheduled meetings with our Senators and Assemblymembers.
Fortunately (or unfortunately), a lot of us from Manhattan have very supportive representatives. In our cases, the day was more about hearing them speak and a little Q&A. For other people around the state, there were scheduled meetings with representatives who were anywhere from firmly opposed to on the fence to strongly supports.
There was a rally mid-day (also what you read above), which was met with only two "counter-protesters," but was otherwise peaceful and moving. Anne Hathaway's mom, a member of PFLAG, was there to speak to us and also read a letter from Anne.
There were also two sets of one-hour caucuses to discuss a variety of issues. I missed the first round, but for the second round I attended the Marriage Equality caucus. I'll admit that it wasn't all that I hoped it would be as there seemed to be some tension between EQNY and EPSA over strategy, but overall it was good to hear that there is a strategy in place and that they were making some movement on some senators. We were told there were approximately 23-34 senators who publicly supported the marriage bill, that the goal is 35+, but that the majority vote needed is 32.
It's a bit difficult for me to summarize the whole event (and I'm not the best writer in the world), but hopefully this gives a bit of insight into the day. It definitely was more than a rally. There was even talk by some attendees of dropping by Senator Diaz's office to try to talk to him, but I don't know if that happened or not. It was a very powerful and moving day for me to be involved in!
Posted by: gabriel | Apr 29, 2009 8:52:07 AM