No Contest: Gillibrand is exponentially better than Ford, Jr. for LGBT New Yorkers

A note from Alan van Capelle, Pride Agenda Executive Director:

Today’s news that Harold Ford Jr, a former Tennessee Congressman and former candidate for the US Senate representing Tennessee, may seek to challenge Senator Gillibrand here in New York should be particularly disturbing to LGBT New Yorkers.

Ford supports a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. In fact, he voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment both times it reached the House floor. He has also gone out of his way to condemn court rulings (New Jersey’s, for example) that called for equal treatment under the law for same-sex couples. During his last year in the House, Ford received a 25 (out of 100) rating on HRC’s Congressional Scorecard.

Ford’s anti-LGBT positions run in marked contrast with Senator Gillibrand’s unyielding support for our community. In the year that she has been in the US Senate, Senator Gillibrand has been an outspoken and passionate supporter of every single piece of pro-LGBT legislation that currently exists at the federal level. She has often led the charge in the Senate for calling for the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” She became the first US Senator from New York to support marriage equality, and she actively lobbied members of the New York State Senate to support the marriage equality bill before it received a vote on Dec. 2, 2009.

For our community—and any New Yorker who cares about equality for LGBT people—there is no contest here. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand deserves our full support if she is going to be challenged by someone who has a dismal voting record on our rights—someone like Harold Ford, Jr. of Tennessee.

Morning Sweep

A Buffalo woman was stabbed after she and two friends were attacked by two gay-bashing women outside a downtown club following a New Year's Eve celebration. The attack occurred a little more than 12 hours after two Buffalo women were arrested on hate crime charges for attacking a 20-year-old gay man.

The NJ Senate is scheduled to vote on the state's marriage equality bill on Thursday.

Amanda Simpson, the first openly transgender Presidential appointee, says she's worried about being labeled a "token" pick, but she " intend(s) to do a far superior job than any other person" to prove that's not the case.

The Obama administration has added language to the federal jobs website that explicitly bans employment discrimination based on gender identity in the federal workplace.

Opposing sides in the federal Prop. 8 trial scheduled to begin next week are dueling over whether or not the trial will be televised.

Morning Sweep

President Obama has appointed a transgender woman, Amanda Simpson, to be a Technical Advisor at the Commerce Department.

Advocates in New Jersey are still hopeful that the marriage equality bill might pass before the state changes Governors on Jan 19.

The New York Times editorial board calls upon the U.S. Government and others to make it clear to Uganda that if its anti-gay legislation becomes law, "it will lose millions of dollars in foreign aid and be shunned globally."

Morning Sweep

Today the U.S. officially lifted a 22-year immigration ban which prevented anyone with HIV/AIDS from entering the country.

New Hampshire officially began marrying same-sex couples on Jan. 1. The state passed its law in June, becoming the fifth state with marriage equality.

Three U.S. anti-gay activists may have been a driving force behind Uganda's proposed legislation to persecute gay people. The activists presented a series of talks in Uganda last March about "the threat homosexuals posed to Bible-based values and the traditional African family."

The LGBT community in Uganda feels threatened by the high level of official government-sponsored anti-gay hate speech.

Morning Sweep

The Capitol's editorial board writes that even though the Dec. 2 marriage vote's results were disappointing to same-sex marriage advocates, the bill coming to the floor for a vote was an important event in Albany politics.

In The Life has an excellent video documenting reactions to the marriage bill's defeat, including a great interview with Sen. Diane Savino, whose speech on the floor in support of marriage has won her much admiration in the LGBT community:

Marching On

On December 2, 2009 the New York State Senate rejected a bill that would have allowed same-sex couples to marry. New Yorkers responded to the vote with sadness and anger, but mostly with renewed determination to win. Join the Pride Agenda as we continue fighting for equal rights for all LGBT New Yorkers and our families.

Morning Sweep

Here's some of what's happened during the holiday season:

Mexico City has legalized marriage for same-sex couples.

The New York Times profiles a trans youth worker for the Hetrick-Martin Institute.

With a rise in openly gay candidates winning public office, some political experts say these elections are a better indication of societal attitudes than are high-profile fights over same-sex marriage in states like New York, New Jersey and Maine.

The federal court challenge to California's marriage equality ban is being called "the biggest U.S. gay rights battle next year" and is seen as part of a growing move to build support for marriage equality outside of the election process. The trial is set to begin on Jan. 11 in San Francisco.

Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty signed the District's marriage equality bill. The bill must now pass a 30-day period of Congressional review.

CNN explains the difficulty lesbian and gay members of the military face in keeping their sexual orientation a secret under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."