National
Gay assemblyman introduces N.Y. marriage bill
Anti-gay group launches attack ads opposing measure
New York Assemblyman Daniel OāDonnell (D-Manhattan), the gay brother of TV personality Rosie OāDonnell, introduced a bill this week to legalize same-sex marriage in the state.
OāDonnellās action appears to have broken ranks with New Yorkās 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.
āIt is with great pride that I am introducing the Marriage Equality Act,ā OāDonnell said in a statement. āSince the Assembly last passed the bill in 2009, there has been an overwhelming groundswell of support for marriage equality across our state.ā
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.
āThe question has never been the Assembly,ā Vlasto told the Times. āThe question has always been whether there are the votes in the Senate, and that remains the question.ā
Vlastoās 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 billās 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.
āWe think the environment is strong,ā said ESPA Executive Director Ross Levi. āTo 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,ā 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.
āItās 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,ā said NOM President Brian Brown.
āWe 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,ā Brown said.
Similar to its practice in other states, NOMās TV ad opposing the bill,Ā which aired on TV stations this week,Ā 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.
āWeāre 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,ā said HRC President Joe Solmonese. āThe ad is a piece of fiction,ā he said. āSchool districts determine what is taught in schools.ā
NOMās Brown argues that the āmessageā 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 NOMās campaign against same-sex marriage also has been successful in states where gay marriage surfaced in legislatures.
āIn Maryland and Rhode Island we just won great victories for marriage,ā he said. āOur 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,ā he said. āWe expect the same to happen in New York.ā
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 MondayĀ in an ESPA-led rally in support of the marriage bill. Participants, among other things,Ā visited theĀ 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. Bushās 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 HRCās videos expressing strong support for the marriage bill, becoming one of the nationās 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 isnāt 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.
āWeāre not taking anything for granted and weāre working carefully in both chambers, particularly talking to new legislators about why this issue is important,ā he said. āWeāre doing that in both the Assembly and the Senate.ā
Federal Government
US Census Bureau testing survey on LGBTQ households
Agency proposing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity
The U.S. Census BureauĀ is seeking public comment on a proposed test of sexual orientation and gender identity questions on the American Community Survey. The test would begin this summer and continue into next year.
The Census Bureau published the request as a Federal Register notice. In its press release the agency noted that the ACS is an ongoing survey that collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data. It allows the Census Bureau to provide timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low levels of geography.
As part of the process for adding new questions to the ACS, the Census Bureau tests potential questions to evaluate the quality of the data collected.
The Census Bureau proposes testing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to meet the needs of other federal agencies that have expressed interest in or have identified legal uses for the information, such as enforcing civil rights and equal employment measures.
The test would follow the protocols of the actual ACS ā with one person asked to respond to the survey on behalf of the entire household. These particular questions are asked about people 15 years of age or older. Households are invited to respond to the survey online, by paper questionnaire or by phone.
TheĀ current Federal Register noticeĀ gives the public a final opportunity to provide feedback before the Census Bureau submits its recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. The public may provide feedback through May 30Ā online.
The White House
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Nancy Pelosi is also among this year’s honorees
Beloved LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard is among the 19 honorees who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., the White House announced on Friday.
The mother of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in 1998 in the country’s most notorious anti-gay hate crime, she co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation with her husband Dennis to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ violence.
The organization runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs, many focused on schools.
In a statement shared via the Human Rights Campaign, Shepard said, āThis unexpected honor has been very humbling for me, Dennis, and our family. What makes us proud is knowing our President and our nation share our lifelong commitment to making this world a safer, more loving, more respectful, and more peaceful place for everyone.
āI am grateful to everyone whose love and support for our work through the years has sustained me.
āIf I had the power to change one thing, I can only dream of the example that Mattās life and purpose would have shown, had he lived. This honor reminds the world that his life, and every life, is precious.”
Shepard was instrumental in working with then-President Barack Obama for passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, which was led in the House by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will also be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the ceremony on Friday.
Also in 2009, Shepard published a memoir, “The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed,” and was honored with theĀ Black Tie Dinner Elizabeth Birch Equality Award.
“Judy Shepard has been a champion for equality and President Bidenās choice to honor her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a testament to what sheās done to be a force of good in the world,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.
“A mother who turned unspeakable grief over the loss of her son into a decades-long fight against anti-LGBTQ+ hatred and violence, Judy continues to make a lasting impact in the lives of the LGBTQ+ community,” she said. Ā
“It is because of her advocacy that the first federal hate crimes legislation became law and that countless life-saving trainings, resources and conversations about equality and acceptance are provided each year by the Matthew Shepard Foundation,” Robinson said. “We are honored that Judy is a member of the HRC family and know that her work to create a more inclusive and just world will only continue.”
Other awardees who will be honored by the White House this year are: Actor Michelle Yeoh, entrepreneur and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Jesuit Catholic priest Gregory Boyle, Assistant House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Labor and Education Secretary and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), journalist and former daytime talkshow host Phil Donahue, World War II veteran and civil rights activist Medgar Evers (posthumous), former Vice President Al Gore, civil rights activist and lawyer Clarence B. Jones, former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) (posthumous), Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, educator and activist Opal Lee, astronaut and former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Ellen Ochoa, astronomer Jane Rigby, United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe (posthumous).
National
United Methodist Church removes 40-year ban on gay clergy
Delegates also voted for other LGBTQ-inclusive measures
The United Methodist Church on Wednesday removed a ban on gay clergy that was in place for more than 40 years, voting to also allow LGBTQ weddings and end prohibitions on the use of United Methodist funds to āpromote acceptance of homosexuality.ā
Overturning the policy forbidding the church from ordaining āself-avowed practicing homosexualsā effectively formalized a practice that had caused an estimated quarter of U.S. congregations to leave the church.
The New York Times notes additional votes “affirming L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church are expected before the meeting adjourns on Friday.” Wednesday’s measures were passed overwhelmingly and without debate. Delegates met in Charlotte, N.C.
According to the church’s General Council on Finance and Administration, there were 5,424,175 members in the U.S. in 2022 with an estimated global membership approaching 10 million.
The Times notes that other matters of business last week included a “regionalization” plan, which gave autonomy to different regions such that they can establish their own rules on matters including issues of sexuality ā about which international factions are likelier to have more conservative views.
Rev. Kipp Nelson of St. Johns’s on the Lake Methodist Church in Miami shared a statement praising the new developments:
āIt is a glorious day in the United Methodist Church. As a worldwide denomination, we have now publicly proclaimed the boundless love of God and finally slung open the doors of our church so that all people, no matter their identities or orientations, may pursue the calling of their hearts.
“Truly, all are loved and belong here among us. I am honored to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for such a time as this, for our future is bright and filled with hope. Praise be, praise be.ā