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Gay assemblyman introduces N.Y. marriage bill

Anti-gay group launches attack ads opposing measure

Published

15 years ago

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New York Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell (D-Manhattan) (photo courtesy of O'Donnell)

New York Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell (D-Manhattan), the gay brother of TV personality Rosie O’Donnell, introduced a bill this week to legalize same-sex marriage in the state.

O’Donnell’s action appears to have broken ranks with New York’s Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, who promised to introduce marriage equality legislation but has hesitated in doing so just weeks before the state legislature is scheduled to adjourn for the year.

Cuomo, a strong backer of same-sex marriage, reportedly has persuaded a coalition of LGBT advocacy groups campaigning for a marriage bill to support his plan to hold off on introducing the bill until enough votes could be lined up to pass it in the Republican-controlled state Senate.

“It is with great pride that I am introducing the Marriage Equality Act,” O’Donnell said in a statement. “Since the Assembly last passed the bill in 2009, there has been an overwhelming groundswell of support for marriage equality across our state.”

The Democratic-controlled Assembly has passed a same-sex marriage bill three times since 2007, and this is the fourth time O’Donnell has emerged as the lead sponsor of the bill. But the bill lost in the Senate in 2009 by an eight-vote margin at a time when Democrats controlled the body. It was the first time the Senate had taken a vote on the measure.

Josh Vlasto, a spokesperson for Cuomo, told the New York Times on Tuesday that the governor remains committed to seeing the bill pass before the legislature adjourns at the end of June.

“The question has never been the Assembly,” Vlasto told the Times. “The question has always been whether there are the votes in the Senate, and that remains the question.”

Vlasto’s comments came at a time when many political observers in the state were hopeful that between four and six Republican senators would join as many as 28 Senate Democrats to secure the bill’s passage. Most observers expect the Assembly to once again approve the bill.

Republicans have a 32-30 majority in the 62-member Senate.

Supporters, led by a coalition of LGBT groups, including the Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) and the Human Rights Campaign, have pointed to a recent public opinion poll showing that 58 percent of New Yorkers support the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry.

Advocates for the bill also note that Cuomo, who has a high public approval rating, is aggressively lobbying both Democratic and Republican lawmakers to vote for a marriage equality bill that he says he wants to personally introduce.

“We think the environment is strong,” said ESPA Executive Director Ross Levi. “To have such a popular governor so forcefully behind it, to have the public so solidly on our side at 58 percent, to have the LGBT community and so many strong allies working closely and coordinated together creates a good environment to work on this and achieve victory,” he said.

In a development that was long expected, the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage announced this week it is launching a $500,000 TV ad campaign to defeat the marriage bill. The group has also vowed to spend $1 million to defeat any Republican lawmaker who votes for the bill and to support the re-election of any Democratic legislator who votes no on the bill.

NOM President Brian Brown (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

“It’s become quite clear in recent days in New York that Gov. Cuomo and same-sex marriage advocates are targeting a select number of Democrat state senators, as well as some Republicans, in their desperate attempt to coerce legislators to support their agenda,” said NOM President Brian Brown.

“We want to be sure those courageous Democrats and Republicans who cast their vote of conscience in favor of traditional marriage will have a strong supporter if the radical gay activists come after them in their next election,” Brown said.

Similar to its practice in other states, NOM’s TV ad opposing the bill, which aired on TV stations this week, claims that legalizing same-sex marriage would result in elementary schools teaching children about gay marriage and how it benefits society.

The Human Rights Campaign has responded by launching its own campaign to challenge the NOM ads, saying the group is falsely linking marriage equality to school curricula.

“We’re fighting for loving committed gay and lesbian couples going down to the courthouse to get married, which has absolutely nothing to do with what is taught in schools,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “The ad is a piece of fiction,” he said. “School districts determine what is taught in schools.”

NOM’s Brown argues that the “message” it conveys in its TV ads has resonated in all states in which same-sex marriage bills have come before voters in a referendum. He said NOM’s campaign against same-sex marriage also has been successful in states where gay marriage surfaced in legislatures.

“In Maryland and Rhode Island we just won great victories for marriage,” he said. “Our opponents tried to claim that same-sex marriage was inevitable in both states. They were wrong. Once our message got out and legislators heard from their constituents, same-sex marriage was stopped dead,” he said. “We expect the same to happen in New York.”

Levi said the New York coalition working to pass marriage equality legislation has learned from mistakes made by advocates in other states, including Maryland.

The coalition, called New Yorkers United for Marriage, includes ESPA, HRC, Freedom to Marry, and Log Cabin Republicans. It has launched its own TV ads in support of the marriage equality bill in all parts of the state, according to Levi.

He said more than 1,200 LGBT advocates and their allies descended on the state capital in Albany on Monday in an ESPA-led rally in support of the marriage bill. Participants, among other things, visited the offices of senators as Assembly members to urge them to vote for the measure.

HRC, meanwhile, has been releasing a series of videos in the state featuring testimonials in support of the bill by celebrities, including actors Julianne Moore and Sam Waterston and President George W. Bush’s daughter, Barbara Bush. Former President Bill Clinton issued a written statement supporting the bill last week.

New York Rangers star hockey player Sean Avery surprised the sports world by agreeing to appear in one of HRC’s videos expressing strong support for the marriage bill, becoming one of the nation’s first major sports figures to embrace a gay rights issue.

Levi said the timing of introducing a same-sex marriage bill in the New York Legislature isn’t as important as securing the support from the speaker of the Assembly and the majority leader of the Senate, who have full control over which bills come up for a vote. The Assembly speaker has long been supportive of the bill.

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skellos (R-Long Island) has said he would allow the bill to reach the Senate floor for a vote even though Skellos announced he would vote against it.

According to Levi, the November 2010 election in New York resulted in at least two more senators who have publicly committed to voting for the marriage measure. But Levi was cautious about predicting the outcome of a Senate vote, saying he was optimistic that the bill would pass.

“We’re not taking anything for granted and we’re working carefully in both chambers, particularly talking to new legislators about why this issue is important,” he said. “We’re doing that in both the Assembly and the Senate.”

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National

BREAKING NEWS: Shots fired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Shooter reportedly opened fire inside hotel

Published

11 hours ago

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April 25, 2026

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(Washington Blade photo by Joe Reberkenny)

Four loud bangs were heard in the International Ballroom of the Washington Hilton during the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday.

According to the Associated Press, a shooter opened fire inside the hotel outside the ballroom.

Attendees could hear four loud bangs as people started to duck and take cover. During the chaos sounds of salad and glasses were dropped as hotel employees, and guests ducked for cover.

The head table — which included President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, first lady Melania Trump, and White House Correspondents Association President Weijia Jiang — were rushed off stage.

“The U.S. Secret Service, in coordination with the Metropolitan Police Department, is investigating a shooting incident near the main magnetometer screening area at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” the U.S. Secret Service said in a statement. “The president and the First Lady are safe along all protects. One individual is in custody. The condition of those involved is not yet known, and law enforcement is actively assessing the situation.”

Trump held a press conference at the White House after he left the hotel.

“A man charged a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons and he was taken down by some very brave members of Secret Service,” said Trump.

Trump said the shooter is from California. He also said an officer was shot, but said his bullet proof vest “saved” him.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, interim D.C. police chief Jeffrey Carroll, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro, and other officials held their own press conference at the hotel.

Carroll said the gunman was armed with a shotgun, handgun, and “multiple” knives when he charged a Secret Service checkpoint in a hotel lobby. Carroll also told reporters that law enforcement “exchanged gunfire with that individual.”

Both he and Bowser said the gunman appeared to act alone.

“We are so very thankful to members of law enforcement who did their jobs tonight and made sure all guests were safe,” said Bowser. “Nobody else was involved.”

The Washington Blade will update this story as details become more available.

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State Department

State Department implements anti-trans bathroom policy

Memo notes directive corresponds with White House executive order

Published

3 days ago

on

April 23, 2026

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(Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress)

The State Department on April 20 announced employees cannot use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.

The Daily Signal, a conservative news website, reported the State Department announced the new policy in a memo titled “Updates Regarding Biological Sex and Intimate Spaces, Including Restrooms.”

The State Department has not responded to the Washington Blade’s request for comment on the directive.

“The administration affirms that there are two sexes — male and female — and that federal facilities should operate on this objective and longstanding basis to ensure consistency, privacy, and safety in shared spaces,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggot told the Daily Signal. “In line with President Trump’s executive order this provides clear, uniform guidance to the department by grounding policy in biological sex as determined at birth.”

President Donald Trump shortly after he took office in January 2025 issued an executive order that directed the federal government to only recognize two genders: male and female. The sweeping directive also ordered federal government agencies to “effectuate this policy by taking appropriate action to ensure that intimate spaces designated for women, girls, or females (or for men, boys, or males) are designated by sex and not identity.”

The Daily Signal notes the new State Department policy “does not prohibit single-occupancy restrooms.”

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National

I’m telling the scared little girl I once was it’s okay to feel free

This week is Lesbian Visibility Week

Published

3 days ago

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April 23, 2026

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(Design by Soph Holland)

Uncloseted Media published this article on April 23.

By SOPHIE HOLLAND | At 13 years old, I remember looking in the mirror in my Toronto bathroom and thinking, “Yeah, I’m a lesbian.” At the time, I thought it was a dirty word. Thinking back, it could be because the first time I heard it was when a family member said, “I don’t know what a lesbian is, they are like aliens.”

And although I walked around in camouflage Crocs with a rainbow My Little Pony charm, plaid knee-length shorts and a shark tooth necklace (yes, these are all, in my opinion, stereotypically lesbian apparel!), I didn’t feel like I fit the mold. The longer I thought about it, the worse I felt, so I buried my feelings deep inside.

Now I am 25, and I have been out since I was 22. Three years ago, I never could have imagined that I’d be working for a queer news publication and celebrating Lesbian Visibility Week, an annual event meant to honor and uplift lesbian perspectives and highlight the hardships our community faces. To me, LVW is so important because, frankly, it has been an absolute shit show getting here, to a place where I feel love and joy most days.

I think back to the frustration of constantly being asked, “Do you have a boyfriend?” Of watching princess movies and seeing a broken girl only find herself when her prince charming arrives. I remember listening to music that was always about heterosexual relationships. I remember feeling left out in high school when, one by one, my friends got boyfriends.

I tried the boyfriend, and I tried really hard for it to work at a large detriment to my wellbeing. I brainwashed myself into thinking I was probably bisexual, which I told my closest friends around 16 and unsuccessfully told my parents at the same age. I was probably subconsciously using this as a litmus test of their acceptance and to soothe the anxiety I felt around my sexuality.

Learning to love who I am did not only come from me unraveling my internalized lesbophobia and dissecting the oppressive societal messages of heteronormativity. It came from meeting an awesome community of lesbians and queers. I found people who understood my worldview and who showed me the ropes. I no longer had to stutter over concepts like lesbian loneliness or my frustration with misogynistic straight men.

They all just got it.

Without this community, I am not sure if I could be as warm and confident in myself as I am today.

And while I still experience homophobia, like being spat on while walking with an ex in downtown Toronto or having a stranger yell in my face “Are you fucking lesbians?” in Kensington Market, the joy and love still outweighs the nasty.

So, as the sentimental dyke that I have become, I decided to ask a set of lesbians in my orbit — including my friends as well as Uncloseted staffers, board members and followers — if they would share a little bit about what makes them love being a lesbian. And now, I can share it with all of you. Here they are. Happy LVW!

Timi Sotire

Falling in love with her was a reset. I felt like a kid again, hopeful about the future. We’ve had to overcome many obstacles to be together, but I’d choose her in every lifetime. I was sick with a long-term health condition when we met, and hanging out with Sophia really helped me with my recovery after my surgery.

Bella Sayegh

Being a lesbian is one of the most beautiful things in the world. To be authentically yourself in resistance and joy is so special within the lesbian community.

Parker Wales

When I met Liv, I finally understood why almost every song is about love.

Gillian Kilgour

There is no connection quite as perfect as between lesbians, no one sees me like my lesbians do.

Chyna Price

There’s many things I love about being a lesbian. But here are my top three:

  1. There’s just a deeper understanding when it comes to being loved by another woman.
  2. The next one would be the sense of community, especially being a POC masculine-presenting lesbian. I don’t feel like I’m cosplaying as someone else like I felt like I was doing before I came out.
  3. There’s so much history going back to the 1800s on how we found and fought for our love. That fight makes me proud because it shows me … that we’ve [found] ways to express our love even when it was misunderstood, illegal and deemed as madness.

Hope Pisoni

Before I knew I was a lesbian, romantic relationships seemed suffocating — it felt like everyone would expect me to act my part in the meticulous performance that is heterosexuality. But meeting my spouse and discovering our identities together showed me just how freeing it could be to love without a script to follow.

Leital Molad

It was the joy of watching the New York Sirens defeat the Toronto Sceptres at our first professional women’s hockey game — surrounded by hundreds (maybe thousands?) of cheering lesbians.

Angela Earl

I spent years building a life that looked right. But I never felt settled, and eventually I started asking what would actually make me happy. Coming out was about more than who I love, it was letting go of everything I was told to be. The last few years have felt like coming home to a life that had been waiting for me.

Tali Bray

What I love about being a lesbian is what I love about being in love … the wonder and joy of “oh, this is what it’s supposed to feel like.” I love moving through the world with women.

Izzy Stokes

I didn’t fall in love until I realized that queerness was an option. My queer friends have helped me see so much more than I grew up seeing. I’m so proud of us, and I’m so grateful for my lesbian community.

Nandika Chatterjee

When I met my fiancée is when I started to feel most like myself. That meant loving myself for who I am and embracing my identity as a lesbian. I felt free in a way I have never before. That’s the long and short of it.

Liz Lucking

The love and joy of being a lesbian is getting to live the life I dreamed of but never thought I would get to have!

Reflections

As I read these beautiful entries, it’s not lost on me that we’re still living in a world where lesbians are more likely to struggle with maternity problems, fetishization, and compulsory heterosexuality — not to mention the intersectional pressures of racism from both inside and outside the queer community. That’s part of why, according to a 2024 survey, 22 percent of LGBTQ women have attempted suicide, and 66 percent have sought treatment for trauma.

So if you are a lesbian who isn’t out or doesn’t feel safe, I hope you read this and can glean some hope from these messages. So when you look in the mirror, you know that it’s okay to release the weight — which can feel so heavy — of a heteronormative world.

We still have a long fight until all lesbians can feel safe to be themselves, but this is a community that does not back away from the tough, from the joy, from being loud and from all the other things that it takes to start a small revolution.

Hell yeah, lesbians! Here’s to you.

*I am signing off with my cat on my lap and a pride flag over my head <3.

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