Welcome...and a bit about us

Welcome to The Agenda: a blog edited by the communications team of the Empire State Pride Agenda. We’ve started blogging because we hope to shine a few additional rays of light and add perspective on the issues and people that operate in the heavily congested intersection between LGBT communities and New York State politics. Sometimes serious and sometimes irreverent, we hope that this blog will be a source of information, conversation, debate, sometimes entertainment and occasionally even the fire that ignites action, if necessary.

Sometimes we’ll be a catch-all for what we consider to be relevant news, other times we will try to explain/put in our two cents on a complex issue that impacts gay people. We’ll live-blog important events; have guest writers contribute their thoughts on issues like religion, the workplace and elections; and even break news, from time-to-time. We’ll also take you into the “back hallways” of politics as-we-know-it so that you might get a better idea of how the LGBT community is viewed, represented and ultimately advanced within the Byzantine power structures of New York State.

While the geographical focus of The Agenda is primarily New York, we will often comment on the world beyond the Empire State (yes, it does exist). Federal issues certainly affect the New York gay community, as do trends set by other states and sometimes even other countries. It’s also important to see what our allies and adversaries are saying in other places so that we can learn from them and be better prepared to win future battles.

The Empire State Pride Agenda is the leading civil rights advocate in New York State for the LGBT community. The Agenda is an extension of the organization, but not necessarily a lock-step mouthpiece. The purpose here is to both contribute to and receive feedback from those who are interested in this conversation. We’re really excited to be entering into it. We hope you’ll stop by often, let us know about something that we should be checking out, and tell us how you feel about the issues and people discussed on these pages.