Bill de Blasio and Chirlane McCray. (Photo: Getty)

In December of last year, Politicker published a seven-page 1979 Essence magazine article where Chirlane McCray, the wife of mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio, frankly discussed her identity as a lesbian. The news made waves, amplified by a New York Post cartoon condemned as offensive. Now, more than six months after our report and decades after the original essay, Ms. McCray returned to Essence's pages to discuss Mr. de Blasio, her sexual identity and more.

"I came out at 17. I hadn't really dated any men. I thought, Whoa, what is this?" she said at one point in the Essence interview, when asked about entering her relationship with Mr. de Blasio. "But I also didn't think, Oh, now I'm attracted to men. I was attracted to Bill. He felt like the perfect person for me."

Ms. McCray went on to hint that she has a much more complex sexual identity today.

"I am more than just a label. Why are people so driven to labeling where we fall on the sexual spectrum?" she said when asked if she considers herself bisexual. As to whether she is still attracted to women, Ms. Mcray said, "I'm married, I'm monogamous, but I'm not dead and Bill isn't either."

Ms. McCray, who once worked for former Mayor David Dinkins along with Mr. de Blasio, now the city's public advocate, is perhaps the most active spouse on the mayoral campaign trail and appears set to take an active role in a potential de Blasio administration.

"It's too early to say what I will work on," she said about her plans if Mr. de Blasio wins, "but I'll be my own person."

(photo: nypost.com)

Bill de Blasio has had enough of Andrea Peyser.

The New York Post columnist once again slammed the public advocate in a column today, claiming the mayoral candidate is "daring the media" to write about his wife's past as a lesbian activist and that he is "protesting way too much."

"Bill and Chirlane appeared all over TV and at the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, whining and complaining and daring the media to cover a story that, were the de Blasios not so obsessed with it, would simply go away," Ms. Peyser declared, labeling the story she was writing about the "nonstory of the season."

In addition to accusing Mr. de Blasio of being too far to the left on matters of public policy, Ms. Peyser argued he mischaracterized her previous column about his wife, where she wrote, “Lesbians don’t simply get cured, as if homosexuality were a temporary disease." The public advocate responded by writing a letter saying Ms. Peyser “seems to define those who are gay or lesbian as suffering from a ‘disease’ from which they ‘don’t simply get cured.’" In her follow-up today, however, Ms. Peyser claimed she never made the comparison.

This afternoon, after a union rally at John F. Kennedy Airport, Politicker asked Mr. de Blasio if he found the Post follow-up piece persuasive. Needless to say the answer was "no."

"Over the last few days, my wife and I think we've said everything we have to say about how proud we are of our family, how deep our love is," he succinctly replied. "Andrea Peyser is way out of bounds on this issue and has been on many others."

Bill de Blasio and Chirlane McCray at this morning's rally.

A rally hosted by Al Sharpton's National Action Network this morning that was ostensibly held to discuss the situation in the State Senate featured all of the likely Democratic mayoral candidates blasting the New York Post for a cartoon the tabloid published in response to Politicker's story about Bill de Blasio's wife, Chirlane McCray's, past as a lesbian activist. Mr. de Blasio, with Ms. McCray by his side, was the last of the candidates to speak. Mr. de Blasio began by thanking Ms. Sharpton for supporting him and his wife in the days since the story came out, which he said had been "painful and challenging for us." He went on to talk about meeting Ms. McCray.

"Twenty one years ago Chirlane and I were working in City Hall for Mayor Dinkins. I met this beautiful, strong woman. And I've said many times, for me it was love at first sight. It may have taken Chirlane a little longer," said Mr. de Blasio. "I got to know her and I saw a human being that I fell deeper and deeper in love with, a human being. And I am so proud of the years of struggle and activism, of what she did for women, for the LGBT community, for people of color and the anti-apartheid movement. I am so proud of this woman and the good work she did."

Our story detailed how Ms. McCray was involved in prominent lesbian activist groups and, in 1979, wrote an article for Essence entitled "I am a Lesbian" in which she described coming out to her family, several relationships with women and how she strongly preferred women to men "both emotionally and physically." Though Ms. McCray, who is an unpaid advisor on Mr. de Blasio's campaign, has played a prominent role in her husband's political career and they have extensively discussed her other political work, her past as a lesbian activist was never mentioned by the campaign and one of the landmark lesbian groups she was a member of was simply referred to as a "feminist" organization on the campaign's website.

The New York Post cartoon about the story featured Mr. de Blasio wearing lingerie aside Ms. McCray in bed. Ms. McCray is on the phone telling someone "I used to be a lesbian, but my husband, Bill de Blasio, won me over." It was drawn by Sean Delonas, who has made several other controversial cartoons in the past including several mocking the gay community and one after President Barack Obama signed the stimulus bill that depicted a chimpanzee being shot by a police officer who said, "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill." Mr. Sharpton has also been featured in several controversial Post cartoons.

After discussing meeting his wife, Mr. de Blasio directly addressed the tabloid.

"I say to the New York Post, first, my first response is as a husband and a father: leave my wife alone, leave my children alone. And don't misinterpret that sentence for a moment to mean that Chirlane McCray cannot defend herself, because I assure you she can, but I'm offended they denigrated a woman who is a role model by any measure," Mr. de Blasio said.

He went on to proclaim, "It's time for us to say once and for all to the New York Post: Stop dividing this city!"

"I think there are actually some people at the Post who have a conscience, some people at the Post who are good people," said Mr. de Blasio. "I don't know how they tolerate this, or how they tolerate the cartoon of Reverend Sharpton years ago, or how they tolerate the depiction of the President of the United States of America. I don't know how they stand for it."

Once Mr. de Blasio was finished, Ms. McCray took the microphone.

"I'm a bit uncomfortable standing here talking. I would rather be writing an article. But I wrote the article 33 years ago because I believe it's so important to speak out for what's important to you, no matter how your words might be twisted or turned," she said. "It's important because, when you verbalize something you put it out there for people to deal with. Right? Your silence will not protect you. I think that is the lesson of the day here...silence is just not a good thing."

Before Mr. de Blasio and Ms. McCray spoke, the other mayoral candidates also slammed the Post. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is a lesbian, said the Post cartoon was "the worst" thing in the coverage of Ms. McCray's past.

"What Chirlane McCray did by writing that essay, let's be clear in the late 70's and early 80's was life saving. That wasn't 2012, that wasn't a time when the Supreme Court was taking up gay marriage. It  was a totally different world. A world when the president and the federal government turned their backs on thousands of people dying of AIDS every day," said Ms. Quinn. "Think of what it felt like, if you were a child struggling with your identity to see that cartoon in the New York Post. And maybe to see people you love--I hope not--but see people you love laugh at it. Think of what--that did not save lives at all. So I want to first say I'm so sorry that this has had to happen and echo what Reverend Sharpton said: Those folks who covered this in a way that's homophobic and racist and sexist need to apologize first and foremost to Ms. McCray and to Public Advocate de Blasio, but also to the entire city of New York because it is just wrong."

Comptroller John Liu echoed the criticism of the Post's cartoon and the other comics it has published in the past. He also brought up another controversy that the tabloid sparked this week--the cover photo it ran featuring the moments before a man who was pushed onto subway tracks was run over by a train.

"Not only the picture, but the words that came with the picture in big letters; 'THIS MAN IS ABOUT TO DIE,'" said Mr. Liu, who has spent time with the man's family. "The Post, they have a lot to apologize for. They have to answer to the people of New York and we have to hold them accountable. Stop buying this rag! We've got to tell them that there is a line they cannot cross and they cross it too often. This is not journalism, this is not reporting the news. This is far worse than any National Enquirer or any supermarket tabloid you can buy and they call themselves, 'The Nation's Oldest Newspaper.' That's not what a newspaper is."

Former Comptroller Bill Thompson said he was "in shock" after seeing the cartoon about Mr. de Blasio and Ms. McCray.

"I saw--and Bill and Chirlane are friends--saw the New York Post and, again, they have sunk to the lowest possible level. The cartoon that was there yesterday, I'm still in shock," Mr. Thompson said. "The first thing you think about is, my God, how could they do this to a family? How could they do this to their children? How could they do this?"

Mr. Thompson also noted the past cartoons by the paper and said "this isn't the first time that we've seen something that offends us just as human beings, just as decent people" from the Post. He closed by offering Ms. McCray and Mr. de Blasio an apology.

"Bill and Chirlane, I believe that your family's supposed to be left out of campaigns. I've had my wife attacked and there's nothing lower than that," said Mr. Thompson. "While you won't get an apology from the Post, on behalf of good people from New York, I'm sorry you have been dragged into this mud by this newspaper."

Additional Reporting by Colin Campbell. 

Bill de Blasio and Chirlane McCray. (Photo: Getty)

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, an all-but-officially announced mayoral hopeful, has prominently featured his wife Chirlane McCray in his campaign literature and on his web site. Despite Ms. McCray’s front-and-center role in his campaign, for which she also serves as an unpaid advisor, one aspect of her life has thus far remained out of the public eye.

Prior to meeting Mr. de Blasio, Ms. McCray identified as a lesbian and had several long-term relationships with other women. In a seven-page essay she wrote for the September 1979 issue of Essence magazine entitled "I am a Lesbian" she frankly discussed her sexuality and expressed gratitude that she came to terms with her preference for women before marrying a man.

"I survived the tears, the isolation and the feeling that something was terribly wrong with me for loving another woman" Ms. McCray wrote. “Coming to terms with my life as a lesbian has been easier for me than it has been for many. Since I don't look or dress like the typical bulldagger, I have a choice as to whether my sexual preference is known.”
She added, “I have also been fortunate because I discovered my preference for women early, before getting locked into a traditional marriage and having children."
Today, Ms. McCray is very much inside of a traditional marriage with children. She and her husband met at City Hall in 1991 while she was working as a speechwriter for former Mayor David Dinkins and Mr. de Blasio was the mayor's assistant for community affairs. The pair were married in 1994 at a ceremony in Prospect Park that included a gay, interracial, interdenominational pair of ministers, an Italian folk band and African drummers. Since then, Ms. McCray has had two children with Mr. de Blasio and, in her words, spent "almost 20 years of living with a campaign in my house."

Chirlane McCray (Photo: Twitter)

Before entering the political realm, Ms. McCray spent more than a decade working as an editor, magazine writer and poet. In her essay for Essence, she was identified as a  24-year-old "free-lance writer" and "former editorial assistant at Redbook." At the time she published her "I am a Lesbian" article, which was featured on the magazine's front cover with the tagline "BEYOND FEAR—Lesbian Speaks!," Ms. McCray was also a member of the Combahee River Collective, a landmark group of black, feminist lesbians that was active from 1974 until 1980. One of her most famous poems created while she was a part of the group references having a female "lover."

The biography of Ms. McCray on her husband's campaign website notes her affiliation with the Combahee River Collective, however it omits any mention of the group's lesbian roots and simply refers to it as "a pioneering black feminist collective."

Though Mr. de Blasio and Ms. McCray are outspoken supporters of gay rights, the couple has not discussed her past publicly. Last June, after New York legalized same-sex marriage, Mr. de Blasio and Ms. McCray co-authored a piece for GO! magazine praising marriage equality and reflecting on their own position as an interracial couple. In the article, they discuss their own marriage and describe having "gay and lesbian friends and family members," but make no mention of Ms. McCray's former identification as a lesbian.

"We both believe passionately in the rights of our gay and lesbian friends and family members," they wrote. "But on a more personal level, we are deeply conscious that there was a time not long ago when our own marriage would have been impossible in much of the country."

Ms. McCray’s Essence essay describes several women she met during her college years at Wellesley and the Radcliffe Publishing Course who were unwilling to be open about their sexuality including one who avoided "relationships with women" because she "intended to have a political career."

"I realized that it takes a certain courage and strength to be visible," Ms. McCray wrote.

As of this writing. neither Ms. McCray or Mr. de Blasio’s campaign has responded to multiple requests for comment on this story.

Update (4:32 p.m.): Through a campaign spokesperson Ms. McCray told Capital New York's Azi Paybarah: "In the 1970's, I identified as a lesbian and wrote about it. In 1991, I met the love of my life, married him."

It is unclear how she transitioned from a self-described lesbian who was confident that she “had always been more attracted to women, both emotionally and physically, than to men” to a political wife in a heterosexual marriage.

In Essence, Ms. McCray wrote about how she met her first female lover, whom she identified only as "Sharon," at freshman orientation at Wellesley.

"She made me grin when suddenly, unexpectedly, she leaned over and whispered. 'Don't you wish we had a joint?'" Ms. McCray wrote.

Four months after meeting at orientation, Sharon and Ms. McCray "found ourselves in one another's arms, admitting for the first time our love for each other."

"I was ecstatic. There was the joy of waking to her whispers and the soft warmth of her woman's touch," wrote Ms. McCray. "Beyond that was the joy of discovery, of watching a new part of me unfolding. It was like a second birth."

Sharon and Ms. McCray soon moved in together in the dormitories.

"We were very sure that we loved women and preferred them as lovers," she wrote.

Ms. McCray eventually parted ways with Sharon. Her story describes two other long-term relationships she had with other woman. At its conclusion, she wrote that she was dating someone named Candice who she had been with "two and a half years" and she described as "the woman with whom I am living and with whom I hope to spend my life."

Clearly, in life, as in politics, even the best-laid plans can change.

View a scanned copy of Ms. McCray's article below:

"I am a Lesbian" by, Chirlane McCray -- Essence Magazine (September 1979)

(Updated 4:10 p.m. with a copy of Ms. McCray's article.)

Ms. Towns, from her campaign website.

The first round of campaign filings for the 54^th Assembly District gives a glimpse into the proxy battle between three of Brooklyn's power brokers.

Deidra Towns, raised $93,915, the most of any candidate, and also had the most corporate donations with $20,650.

Her father, Congressman Ed Towns, gave $1,000 from his personal account and $3,000 from his reelection fund, and appears to have leaned on some friends in the Congressional Black Caucus.

Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush, South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn, Missouri Congressman Lacy Clay Jr. and New Jersey Congressman Don Payne each gave $1,000 from their campaign funds.

Chirlane McCray, who is married to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, gave $250 to Ms. Towns’ campaign. De Blasio won his seat in 2009 with significant help from the Working Families Party, which has backed one of Towns' opponents, Jesus Gonzalez.

Former Democratic District Leader Steve Cohn, whose son Warren worked for Towns, gave $500.

Rafael Espinal, who serves as City Council member Erik Dilan’s chief of staff and is being supported by Democratic chairman Vito Lopez, raised $70,165, with $15,850 in corporate donations.

New York State Senator Mike Gianaris, from Astoria, gave $3,800 from his campaign fund. Angela Battaglia, Lopez’s girlfriend, donated $200. Citizens for Dilan gave $3,800.

Mr. Espinal collected a significant sum from real estate. His largest corporate donation is $4,100 from Green Star Builders LLC.

Jesus Gonzalez raised a total of $78,650 with 405 transactions from individual donors. Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez gave $4,100 from her reelection campaign. District Leader Lincoln Restler donated $250 – and his parents gave $500. City Council member Charles Barron and his wife, Inez, each gave $250. The candidate himself gave the campaign $27.