By Hunter Walker 12/05/12 3:42pm

Ancient History

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

The Lesbian Past of Bill de Blasio’s Wife

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.” Read More

By Hunter Walker 9/11/12 7:01pm

City Hall

Quinn Final Stephanos

Quinn for a Day: Christine Throws Herself a National Coming Out Party

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn had been to the Democratic National Convention three times before, but this year’s event was different. These days, Ms. Quinn is widely seen as the front-runner in next year’s race to replace Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

In May, just 10 days after President Barack Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage, instantly making it one of the hottest topics of this election cycle, Ms. Quinn married her longtime partner Kim Catullo in a wedding that received almost Kardashian-esque coverage from New York’s political press corps and made her one of the highest-profile married, openly gay politicians in the country.

With her newfound notoriety, it would seem, the stars are aligning for Ms. Quinn to follow Mr. Bloomberg’s footsteps as the most prominent mayor in the country. However, she will first have to cut her path to City Hall through a crowded field of opponents and a Council that may include members eager to exact revenge on the outgoing speaker, while also battling the persistent impression she is a political stand-in, a Medvedev to Mr. Bloomberg’s Putin. Read More

By Hunter Walker 9/04/12 11:07am

Love & Marriage

Video

A still from the "New Morning" ad. (Photo: YouTube)

Pro-Romney Super PAC Launches Anti-Gay Marriage Ad to Snag Southern Swing State Votes

GASTONIA, NC — A super PAC with ties to evangelist leader Gary Bauer is trying frighten would-be Obama supporters in at least one Southern swing state by raising the specter of the President’s support for gay marriage. The “Campaign for American Values” has launched a pro-Mitt Romney television campaign with an ad warning viewers that ”Obama trying to force gay marriage on this country.”

In the commercial, which is entitled “New Morning,” a couple wakes up to coffee and the threat of legalized same sex marriage as they peruse the morning paper.

“Obama is trying to force gay marriage on this country. That’s not the change I voted for. Marriage is between a man and a woman. That’s not the change I voted for,” one of them says,

“That’s not the change I voted for either,” the other agrees.

The ad closes with a narrator advising the couple to ward off this potential onslaught of married gay couples by voting “for someone with values” as the words “VOTE ROMNEY/RYAN” appear on the screen.  Read More

By Hunter Walker 5/12/12 12:14pm

Love & Marriage

Mitt Romney (Photo: Getty)

Mitt Romney Praises Anti-Gay Activists In Commencement Speech

In a commencement speech at Liberty University  this morning Mitt Romney praised anti-gay pastor Jerry Falwell and the founder of Chick-fil-A, a fast food chain that has donated millions to anti-gay groups. Falwell, who passed away in 2007, was the founder of Liberty University and an outspoken opponent of homosexuality.

“In his 73 years of life, Dr. Falwell left a big mark,” Mr. Romney said today. “The calling Jerry answered was not an easy one.  Today we remember him as a courageous and big-hearted minister of the Gospel who never feared an argument, and never hated an adversary.  Jerry deserves the tribute he would have treasured most, as a cheerful, confident champion for Christ.” Read More

By Hunter Walker 5/07/12 6:58pm

Inquisitions

Jay Carney at a White House press briefing last March. (Photo: Getty)

White House Press Secretary Gets Lengthy Grilling On Gay Marriage [Video]

At the daily White House press briefing this afternoon, Press Secretary Jay Carney spent over 20 minutes fielding questions about Vice President Joe Biden’s comment he’s “absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another are entitled to the same exact rights” as heterosexual couples. Mr. Carney reiterated the point made by the President Barack Obama’s campaign advisors that Mr. Biden’s remarks don’t represent a departurefrom the president’s policies on same sex marriage.

“The president is comfortable with same-sex couples, as the Vice President said, being entitled to the same rights and the civil rights and civil liberties as other Americans,” Mr. Carney said. “The record has long been clear that the president opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same-sex couples.” Read More

By Hunter Walker 2/27/12 3:47pm

House of Representatives

Jerry Nadler appearing in the "It Gets Better" video. (Photo: YouTube)

New York City’s Congressional Delegation Assure LGBT Youth ‘It Gets Better’ [Video]

Several members of New York City’s Congressional delegation released an “It Gets Better” video today in an effort to stop Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender youth from committing suicide. Congressmen Jerry Nadler, Joe Crowley, Ed Towns, Eliot Engel and Jose Serrano and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney all appeared in the video.

All of the members Read More

By Hunter Walker 2/07/12 3:01pm

California Love

Opponents of Proposition 8 celebrating outside the 9th Circuit Court today. (Photo: Getty)

Federal Appeals Court Rules California Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

Proposition 8, the ban that ended California’s brief, four-month-long flirtation with same-sex marriage in 2008, was struck down today by a federal appeals court. The three judge panel of the ninth circuit court ruled 2-1 in favor of overturning the voter-approved measure.

“Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California,” judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote in the ruling. Read More

By Hunter Walker 2/01/12 8:51am

Vows

Same-sex marriage supporters marching on Washington in 2009. (Photo: Getty)

For Gay Rights, The Honeymoon Is Over

On Sunday, as Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senator Chuck Schumer and over 400 other guests looked on, Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell married John Banta, his partner of over three decades. For Mr. O’Donnell, the wedding was the culmination of a more-than-four-year fight—which included numerous lawsuits and the introduction of five bills to the State Legislature—that finally resulted in same-sex marriage’s finally being legalized in New York last June.

“I began this battle when Eliot Spitzer was elected governor,” Mr. O’Donnell told The Observer. “I used to wake up every day thinking about how many votes I had or didn’t have. Now it’s like, what do I do now?” Read More