The Pride Agenda is proud to endorse Daniel Squadron for election to the State Senate, representing the 25th Senate District (covering parts of Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan).
Squadron, a 28-year old former top aide to U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, recently defeated 30-year incumbent Marty Connor in the September 9 Primary Election. In Gay City News’ endorsement of Squadron for that election, Editor-in-Chief Paul Schindler writes: “Daniel Squadron, an aggressive challenger who hits hard on the issue of reform in Albany, seemed more comfortable about assuming a lead role in goading his colleagues. ‘That is a drum I plan to beat as aggressively as anybody,’ he said of the push for marriage equality.”
Indeed. On his campaign website, Squadron openly states his support for LGBT issues, specifically marriage equality: “We have not achieved marriage equality, which means that countless LGBT couples who hunger for the emotional, economic and legal protections of marriage are still being shunted aside as second class citizens.”
From his responses on the Pride Agenda candidate questionnaire, it is clear that he understands and supports all of the issues on the Pride Agenda’s public policy agenda. Additionally, he stated that he would co-sponsor marriage equality legislation and bills that would ban discrimination against transgender New Yorkers and make schools safe for LGBT youth. He will not only be a “yes” vote on these important bills, but will be, as he puts it, an “energetic advocate for true equal rights in New York State.”
Democrat Squadron is running against openly gay Republican John Chromczak, who is a medical technologist at New York University Medical Center/Bellevue Hospital Center. Since Chromczak didn’t complete a Pride Agenda candidate questionnaire, we know nothing about his positions on our issues except for what we read in the press. In an interview with the New York Daily News, Chromczak told Liz Benjamin that he was a supporter of marriage equality. Unlike Squadron, however, Chromczak makes no mention of LGBT issues on his website or any other campaign materials that we’ve seen.
Additionally, if Chromczak were to be elected in this overwhelmingly Democratic Senate District, he would support the current Republican Senate Majority Leadership, which has stated time and time again that it will not bring key bills like marriage equality and a ban on discrimination against transgender New Yorkers up for a vote.
Voters in the 25th State Senate district—and LGBT New Yorkers across the state—will be better served with Daniel Squadron in Albany. We strongly urge you to vote for him on Tuesday, November 4.
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