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.)

Christine Quinn (Illustration by, Dale Stephanos)

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.

That said, she hasn’t formally announced her plans. When we asked whether she has her eye on City Hall, Ms. Quinn shook her head and repeated this reporter’s name at least eight times like a disappointed parent.

“You know, I am very lucky to have an amazing job as speaker of the City Council, in a way kind of beyond my wildest dreams. I’m here at the Democratic Convention as a delegate, so we’ll deal with 2013 later on,” she said, seated at a patio table at CNN’s pop-up DNC grill.

Still, Ms. Quinn’s growing star power bodes well for her probable mayoral run. She led in early fund-raising, and the most recent Quinnipiac University polling shows she has nearly three times as much support as any of her likely rivals.

Ms. Quinn’s rise in New York politics has been fueled by what those who have worked with her describe as remarkable intellect and a reputation for burying herself in information. Along with what she calls her “geeky” disposition, Ms. Quinn’s political stamina seems to come from a genuine desire to make a positive contribution.

For Ms. Quinn, politics is often personal. As a gay woman, she has devoted much of her time and energy to same-sex marriage and other LGBT issues. At the convention, she made plans to visit Delaware to aid the push for marriage equality in that state and to fund-raise on behalf of the effort to legalize gay marriage in Maryland.

Ms. Quinn said she was “very” involved in the push for gay marriage in New York and had “lots of conversations” about the “strategy around getting it done” with Gov. Andrew Cuomo. When President Obama announced his support for the issue, Ms. Quinn discussed the news on Piers Morgan Tonight.

As an adult, Ms. Quinn said she “struggled” with telling her father about her sexuality. (Her mother died when she was a teenager.) In her mid-twenties, she made a trip to his apartment to break the news.

“My father’s first reaction, no, I wouldn’t call it supportive,” she recalled. “He said, ‘You should never say that again,’ when I told him that I was a lesbian. And I said, ‘You know, look, I did what I had to do. I told you. You can do whatever you want with the information.’ It was chilly for a few months, then things came around.”

Ms. Quinn’s father went on to walk her down the aisle at her wedding to Ms. Catullo. She said the experience convinced her others could change their opinions on gay marriage.

“Was it what he thought one of his child’s lives would be? No. But did he evolve? Did he get over it? Yes. Is that to me evidence that everyone can? Yes.”

Same-sex marriage isn’t the only national issue with which Ms. Quinn has personal experience. “You know, I lost my mother when I was 16 and she was 56, to breast cancer,” she said. “So, breast cancer and women’s health is an incredibly important issue to me.”

In her time at the convention, she met with representatives of Planned Parenthood and the pro-choice organization NARAL about using legislation she backed in the City Council regulating pro-life “crisis pregnancy centers” as a model for elsewhere around the country. She also made arrangements to travel to Chicago for “anti-gun violence work.”

In one of two national cable news appearances during the DNC, Ms. Quinn went on MSNBC to discuss women’s issues. On Hardball, Chris Matthews emphasized his guest’s status as a cable newcomer. “The great Christine Quinn, New York City Council speaker, who I believe is running for mayor of the great City of New York,” Mr. Matthews said. “So the new kid on the block ... you get to speak first here, Christine.”

As the camera panned to Ms. Quinn, she smiled and raised her eyebrows as Mr. Matthews referenced her mayoral prospects. She went on to offer impassioned support for the Democratic Party platform.

As warm as the national spotlight has been, however, Ms. Quinn may need to tidy up things on the home front before measuring the drapes at Gracie Mansion.

Since she was elected Speaker in 2006, Ms. Quinn has quite literally set the agenda for the New York City Council. She presides over meetings; proposed legislation is submitted through her office, and she oversees the Council’s discretionary funds. It’s a powerful role and a challenging one.

Councilman James Oddo, who as leader of the small Republican minority is part of the Council leadership with Ms. Quinn, said the members of the legislative body are difficult to manage, particularly as a mayoral election approaches.

“If council member X does something ridiculous, and we’ve seen ample examples of that, it gets put on your doorstep, particularly when you’re running or perceived to be running for higher office,” Mr. Oddo explained. “You’ve got 50 other people who are ambitious and have their own agendas and their own plans for the future. And you have to try to corral that.”

Mr. Oddo describes himself as an “unabashed fan” of Ms. Quinn. Though they “don’t agree on everything,” he said he admires her work ethic, preparation, intellect and humor, and the “love” she has for politics and policy.

Mr. Oddo characterized Ms. Quinn’s approach to government as involving long hours and a mastery of minutiae. “I respect her sort of obsessive-compulsive approach to city government,” said the councilman. “There’ll be times when I’d look, I’d skew a glance at her and give her the ‘What the F’ look. Like, how did you remember that?”

Still, according to some accounts, the tight control she has exerted over the body may have caused a buildup of pressure that’s set to explode just as she’s poised to make a run for mayor.

Multiple council members declined to speak for this story, but we talked with a council member and a council staffer who agreed to discuss Ms. Quinn as long as we didn’t identify them.

The staffer said Ms. Quinn has ruled by fear, withholding “member items” (the discretionary funding given to the pet projects of council members) from those who have crossed her. They also accused her of stalling bills and legislation she doesn’t approve of, specifically the Paid Sick Days Act, which was proposed in 2009 but has since languished without a vote in the Council despite being sponsored by 37 members.

“Because she holds the purse strings,” the staffer said, “the people that speak out, the people that challenge the majority thinking, those people typically wind up with less.”

The council member we spoke with agreed that Ms. Quinn has made members “fear” her and speculated this was why we were having trouble finding more of them willing to talk on record.

“Can you like someone and fear them at the same time?” the council member asked. We wondered whether Ms. Quinn, who first joined the Council in 1999, had managed to do both.

“No,” the council member said. “I don’t know if any of them like her.”

Indeed, the staffer we spoke with warned that some of Ms. Quinn’s dissenters who are tired of being “bullied” may see her mayoral bid as making her vulnerable.

“Certain members have talked amongst themselves about how they don’t use their power and how that may need to change in the lead-up to the mayoral,” the staffer said ominously.

Nonetheless, the source conceded Ms. Quinn might be able to ward off “retribution” by promising “something in return, should she be elected.”

The council member we spoke with was more doubtful, however. “As she runs next year, I’d imagine she’s going to try to grow her support,” they said. “I don’t know if it’s by making nice with those colleagues. I don’t know if that’s what she’s capable of doing.”

A spokesman for Ms. Quinn dismissed concerns of dissent in the Council.

“The Council has always been a place for lively debates over interesting ideas among members who represent diverse communities,” the spokesman said. “We fully expect to see vigorous debates next year as we do every year.”

Although Ms. Quinn also has a reputation for being too cooperative with Mayor Bloomberg, Al Hagan, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, described watching Ms. Quinn strongly oppose the mayor’s efforts to close firehouses.

“No firehouses were closed while she was on watch as the speaker, despite the fact that every year City Hall was calling for really massive closings,” he said. “I chuckle all the time when I read things that say she’s the mayor’s surrogate. I don’t see it that way at all.”

Mr. Oddo thinks Ms. Quinn prefers to have her fights with Mr. Bloomberg in private. “Every now and then you have to very publicly kick them in the groin,” he said. “She has chosen not to do that. I’m aware of some of those private moments where she has gone headlong into the administration that never necessarily made the newspapers.”

On those occasions, Mr. Oddo said there’s no questioning Ms. Quinn’s intensity. “When she is unhappy, she thunders, and I love it.”

For her part, Ms. Quinn implied she was the one pulling the strings in her relationship with City Hall.

“I think he has a close relationship with me,” Ms. Quinn said of Mr. Bloomberg when asked about the perception she’s too cozy with the mayor. “I made a decision that Michael Bloomberg and I would work together. I made a decision we would get as much done as we could for the people of the City of New York, and I made a decision that when we couldn’t come to agreement, we would disagree agreeably.”

She pointed out she has opposed Mayor Bloomberg on several “issues around social services,” including his food stamp fingerprinting plan and his homeless shelter policy.

“We’re actually suing the mayor over the homeless housing thing,” she said, “and somebody said to me, ‘What does this mean about your and the mayor’s relationship?’ I said, ‘Nothing! We’re not dating, get over it!’”

Either way, as she luxuriates in her newfound attention, balancing the various interests that have defined her career thus far will be crucial. Perhaps once again Ms. Quinn’s personal life will prove instructive. Since being set up with Ms. Catullo on a blind date the week after September 11th, Ms. Quinn has had to learn to find a balance between her workaholic tendencies and her life with a woman who was initially wary about dating a politician. For example, Ms. Quinn said, she stopped checking her BlackBerry at night because Ms. Catullo “would scream” about it.

Ms. Quinn wouldn’t tell us where the pair went on their honeymoon this summer, but she assured us that she was able to put work aside during the trip, for the most part.

“I BlackBerryed very little,” she said, “and I think my staff would even confirm that I was remarkably off the grid, which is not, like, my strength.”

hwalker@observer.com

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

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. 

Campaign for American Values was founded in 2010. It is a super PAC and can accept unlimited contributions. According to the latest documents on file with the Federal Election Commission, the group currently has $762,291.53 on hand. The group has several ties to evangelical leader Gary Bauer. Campaign for American Values' treasurer is Dorie Black, who is also a staffer at Mr. Bauer's non-profit. The super PAC's website is registered to an address shared by Mr. Bauer's political action committee, the campaign for working families. Mr. Bauer also posted the ad on his YouTube page.

Mr. Romney has said he is against same sex marriage and President Obama expressed support for it back in May, but their disagreement on the issue hasn't been a central element of the presidential race. Though social issues can rally conservatives, President Obama has had success raising donations from his support for gay marriage. An ad campaign such as this could cause the issue to emerge as the latest hot topic in the campaign trail's infamously hyperactive news cycle..

Politicker saw the "New Morning" ad while attending the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina, a crucial swing state that is perfectly primed for a gay marriage battle. We reached out to Ms. Black and Mr. Bauer to find out more about the super PAC and if the ad is running anywhere else, but, as of this writing, we have yet to receive a response. Campaign for American Values spent $28,150 on an ad in support of Mr. Romney late last month, the same day the "New Morning" commercial appeared online.

Opponents of President Obama may see encouraging signs they can gain votes in North Carolina by emphasizing President's support for gay marriage. In 2008, President Obama won the Tarheel State by a slim 28,000 vote margin, becoming the first Democrat to win North Carolina since 1976. However, back in May, the day before President Obama decided to express his support for gay marriage, 61 percent of North Carolina voters backed an amendment to their state constitution banning gay marriage and civil unions. Since then, Mr. Romney has managed to claw out a thin lead in the North Carolina polls.

Mr. Bauer, is a former aide to President Ronald Reagan who ran for president in 2000. He initially backed Rick Santorum rather than Mr. Romney in this year's race.

Update (7:16 p.m.): Mr. Bauer, who is indeed the chairman of the Campaign for American Values, discussed the commercial and his plans for more similar ads with Politicker. 

Watch the anti-Obama super PAC's anti-gay marriage ad below.

Supporters of LPAC include Glee star Jane Lynch and Laura Ricketts, an Obama supporter who is co-owner of the Chicago Cubs. Ms. Ricketts' father, Joe Ricketts, made waves in May when his anti-PAC super PAC contemplated an effort to take out the president by portraying him as a "metrosexual black Abe Lincoln."

"This year we have seen politicians repeatedly support policies that harm women,” Ms. Lynch said. “It is important to me to elect leaders who care about issues that impact women and their families. That's why I support LPAC."

LPAC Chair and Treasurer Sarah Schmidt said LPAC was inspired by "continued attacks on reproductive freedoms" and "marriage equality" that occurred in the past year.

The lesbian PAC plans to give money to "strong pro-women candidates" who support "ending discriminatory treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals and their families," "protecting access to reproductive freedom and quality healthcare" and "furthering social, racial, and economic justice for all Americans." LPAC will be engaging with races on the city, state and federal level.

Mitt Romney (Photo: Getty)

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."

Falwell gained national fame in the late 1970's working with former beauty pageant winner Anita Bryant on her efforts to fight an ordinance prohibitng discrimination against gays in Florida. During that campaign, Falwell gave a speech in Miami where he said "so-called gay folks would just as soon kill you as look at you." He has also condemned gays as "brute beasts . . . part of a vile and satanic system" that "will be utterly annihilated" leading to "a celebration in heaven." In 1999, Falwell denounced the popular children's show Teletubbies because he felt one of the costumed characters on the show, "Tinky Winky," was sending covert gay signals because he was purple and had a triangle shaped antennae.

"As a Christian I feel that role modelling the gay lifestyle is damaging to the moral lives of children," Falwell said of the Teletubbies.

In his speech at Liberty, Mr. Romney shared his own memory of Falwell:

"I will always remember his cheerful good humor and selflessness.  Several years ago, in my home, my wife and I were posing for a picture together with him.  We wanted him to be in the center of the photo, but he insisted that Ann be in the middle, with he and I on the sides.  He explained, by pointing to me and himself, 'You see, Christ died between two thieves.'"

Mr. Romney also praised Truett Cathy, the founder of the Chick-fil-A sandwich chain, who was also being honored at the commencement. Chick-fil-A has been boycotted by gay rights groups for donating large sums of money to groups that condemn homosexuality and fight gay marriage.

"The Romney campaign comes to a sudden stop when we spot a Chick-fil-A. Your chicken sandwiches were our comfort food through the primary season, and there were days that we needed a lot of comforting," Mr. Romney said to Mr. Cathy in his speech. "So, Truett, thank you and congratulations on your well-deserved honor today."

In the wake of President Barack Obama's announcement in support of same sex marriage last week, gay rights and specifically Mr. Romney's record on the issue have increasingly come into the spotlight. Though he was a supporter of gay marriage during his early career in Massachusetts, in recent years, Mr. Romney has fought against same sex marriage. In his speech at Liberty, he reiterated his opposition to gay marriage.

"The American culture promotes personal responsibility, the dignity of work, the value of education, the merit of service, devotion to a purpose greater than self, and, at the foundation, the pre-eminence of the family," Mr. Romney said. "As fundamental as these principles are, they may become topics of democratic debate. So it is today with the enduring institution of marriage. Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman."

Evan Wolfson (Photo: Facebook)

Evan Wolfson, the founder of the same sex marriage advocacy group Freedom To Marry, issued a statement responding to President Barack Obama's announcement he supports the legalization of same sex marriage. Mr. Wolfson described the announcement as a major victory for the movement, but he also said "there is much left to be done."

“Today, President Obama added his voice to the growing chorus of Americans who believe that all loving and committed couples should share equally in the freedom to marry," Mr. Wolfson said. "He now becomes the first sitting President to join the majority of Americans whose hearts have opened and minds have changed in favor of the freedom to marry. The President’s support marks a historic turning point for the freedom to marry movement. Yet there is much left to be done."

Mr. Wolfson said, in addition to expressing verbal support for gay marriage, the president and Congress must "repeal discriminatory laws that hurt families."

"Forty-four states continue to exclude same-sex couples from marriage and because of the federal so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the civil marriages of thousands of same-sex couples are not respected by the federal government, thus depriving families of a crucial safety-net of federal protections and responsibilities," Mr. Wolfson said. "We call on the President, members of Congress, and state legislators from both sides of the aisle, to act together to bring an end to marriage discrimination and put government at every level on the side of families, fairness, and freedom."

Mr. Wolfson also sent an email asking for donations in response to the president's announcement.

"On this historic day, please make a contribution so together we can build on this powerful momentum," he said.

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

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."

Mr. Carney clearly didn't convince reporters the comments weren't an attempt by President Obama to test the waters for a potentially new position on gay marriage. They questioned him about the issue for 21 minutes of the 41 minute press conference.

ThinkProgress produced a compilation video showing all the marriage-related moments in Mr. Carney's presser. Watch that clip below.

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

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 in the Congressional delegation make brief remarks in the video describing recent gains by the gay rights movement and assuring LGBT youth "it gets better." Mr. Serrano recorded his remarks in Spanish. Mr. Nadler finishes the video by reciting the number for the Trevor Project Lifeline, a hotline for suicidal LGBT youth who are seeking help.

The video is part of the "It Gets Better Project," an online initiative started by alt-weekly columnist Dan Savage and his husband in 2010. Several politicians and celebrities have recorded "It Gets Better" videos including President Barack Obama, Lady Gaga and "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe. Mr. Savage's other well-known online political project was "Spreading Santorum," an effort to promote Rick Santorum's last name as a scatological euphemism in Google search results in response to the then Senator's anti-gay comments. We doubt New York City's House members will be making a "Spreading Santorum" video any time soon.

Watch the Congressional "It Gets Better" video below.

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

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.

The ruling, which only applies in California, says communities are permitted "to enact most laws they believe to be desirable," as long as there is "at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently."

Proposition 8 was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge in 2010, but the ninth circuit ordered a stay on the ruling that kept the ban in place during the appeals process. Because of this, Gays and lesbians hoping to get married in California will have to wait a while longer as supporters of the ban say they plan to appeal to a larger ninth circuit panel and take the case to the Supreme Court if necessary.

A coalition of conservative groups including the National Organization for Marriage has been backing the legal fight to uphold the ban. A gay couple, Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, and a lesbian couple, Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, are the plaintiffs in the case against Proposition 8. They are being represented by a team of lawyers headed by David Boies, who represented Al Gore in the 2000 election recount suit, and Theodore B. Olson, who was George W. Bush's solicitor general from 2001 until 2004.

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

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?”

As New York both literally and figuratively moves on from the marriage equality fight, gay rights activists are looking to see same-sex marriage become legal in other states. They also have a whole host of other demands with respect to support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, not to mention workplace discrimination. With the fractious climate in the current American electoral landscape and the unique nature of the gay rights voting bloc, they may have an uphill battle to accomplish these goals.
It’s difficult to quantify the precise number of gay residents in the United States because the census counts only households reporting as same-sex couples. This leaves out single gay people as well as straight gay rights supporters. That being said, the gay rights contingent is still clearly smaller than the blocs supporting religious or racial minority groups. In the most recent census two years ago, the government found each state has an average of just 0.773 percent of households reporting as gay couples.

However many gay citizens there are, unlike other blocs they are not united in terms of class, racial or gender identity. Beyond the marriage issue, there isn’t necessarily a single unifying cause for the gay bloc to get behind.

Kerry Lux Eleveld, a writer who covered the White House for gay magazine The Advocate during the first two years of the Obama administration, pointed out that it is “difficult to speak with authority about the concerns of gay voters because of how diverse they are. It’s not a single set of concerns.”

Despite their relatively small numbers and lack of a single issue, Ms. Eleveld said supporters of gay rights have managed to remain influential by being vocal and politically engaged.

“I think the LGBT voting bloc is a powerful force in many ways,” Ms. Eleveld said. “In terms of voting, as well as pamphleting, canvassing, volunteering and also in terms of donations.”

During the 2008 election, President Obama received nearly $140,000 from organizations associated with gay and lesbian issues. Last May, Politico reported the president’s re-election was “banking on gay donors to make up the cash it’s losing from other groups of wealthy supporters who have been alienated and disappointed” by President Obama’s first term. The president, perhaps mindful of this fact, included 15 gay people on his finance committee compared with just one in 2008. So far in his first term, President Obama has repealed the military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy, called for the repeal of the federal ban on same-sex marriage and pushed the Office of Personnel Management to rewrite regulations banning discrimination of transgender federal workers.

Though President Obama may be counting on gay voters, many of them don’t seem to feel they can count on him. In June, the president faced large protests from crowds eager to see him do more to promote same-sex marriage outside a fund-raiser for gay supporters in New York.

According to Ms. Eleveld, while President Obama has done a lot to support the concerns of gay rights voters, there’s a lot more that could be done for gay, lesbian and transgender citizens at the federal level.

“The administration, in some cases, has been responsive and has had a good record on LGBT concerns so far, but there’s always more that President Obama and the White House could do,” Ms. Eleveld said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that Obama could help move the conversation forward on marriage equality nationwide, but there’s a very large portion of the lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender community that, their number-one concern heading into the Obama administration was a Fair Employment Act and advancing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. It’s something that really could be advanced now if the president used his executive authority and issued an executive order.”

An executive order barring discrimination against transgender federal workers would be much harder for subsequent administrations to reverse than the Office of Personnel Management’s rewritten regulations. While the gay marriage debate captivated the attention of the American people with celebrity supporters and, according to a Pew Research Center survey released last fall, nearly 46 percent of voters in favor of marriage equality, the issues facing transgender people and the employment discrimination debate are much less widely discussed.

“The vast majority of Americans don’t know that gays and lesbians can still be fired in 29 states because of their sexual orientation and that transgender Americans can get fired in more than 30 states simply for their gender identity without any legal recourse,” Ms. Eleveld said. “I think there’s still a lot of education and awareness that needs to be promoted on behalf of transgender issues.”

Election year politics means President Obama needs to appeal to swing voters and turn red states blue, which may make him even less likely than he’s been in the past to cater to the needs of gay rights supporters. Assemblyman O’Donnell, who said he advises lawmakers in other states considering same-sex marriage law, acknowledged that supporting gay causes can be difficult for politicians.

“I undertook this in the political process, I got some bruises for it,” he said. “Trust me, it wasn’t all smooth sailing, but you can get it accomplished.”

For her part, Ms. Eleveld thinks the president would be wise to lean on gay supporters for his re-election campaign.

“From an electoral standpoint, this is, generally speaking, a very loyal and progressive voting bloc for Democrats, but votes aren’t the only thing that matters. This is a group of people that certainly put in a lot of time and energy into volunteering. … It’s also a group that has donated a lot of money to the Democratic Party,” Ms. Eleveld said. “I think one of the lessons from the 2010 midterms is that you absolutely have to motivate your base in order to fare well at the polls. I don’t think you can go for the middle at the exclusion of your base. That was an absolute problem for the Democrats at the midterms.”

Based on President Obama’s reported reliance on donations from gay and lesbian supporters, this may indeed be his strategy.

Locally, gay rights supporters may have an easier time since, with marriage equality passed here in New York, they’re focused on initiatives for youth that aren’t necessarily specifically gay causes.

Yetta Kurland, a prominent civil rights attorney in Manhattan and vice president of New York’s chapter of the Stonewall Democrats, said she believes the gay bloc in the Empire State needs to “focus on ensuring
proper accomodations for homeless youth” because “a disproportionate number of those children and youth are LGBT.”

Ms. Kurland also said it’s important to launch education initiatives for parents and students to help keep LGBT youth out of shelters. Mr. O’Donnell agrees that a focus on promoting tolerance is crucial.

“Yes, we have an LGBT teenage population that needs a lot of attention and shelters are obviously first and foremost on that list, but bullying has become very, very important. It is those kids who are not gender conformant who are most likely the targets,” he said. “If you can work seriously on reducing the bullying you may be able to prevent some of that homelessness from occurring, you may prevent kids from running away.”

Mr. O’Donnell authored the anti-bullying Dignity for All Students Act in the Assembly, but he said there’s still much more that needs to be done.

“The next step of Dignity will have to be expanding it, because it doesn’t apply to colleges, which I think it should and there’s also the question of cyberbullying,” he said.

Mr. O’Donnell also agrees that parents must be educated to prevent children from becoming runaways because their families are intolerant of their sexuality.

“You hear these tragedies every day where a kid gets thrown in front of a train, or jumps out of a window, or slices themselves up because of what’s happening to their sense of value and worth,” Mr. O’Donnell said. “Even though Dignity was monumental, there’s still more work that needs to be done.”

hwalker@observer.com