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Thursday, March 06, 2008
Then there was one.
On Monday, Darrel Aubertine of Cape Vincent was sworn in as the newest Democratic member of the state Senate. He won the seat in a special North County election the previous week.
And thus the Republican lead in that chamber is whittled down to a single seat.
One would have expected a roaring cheer from the LGBT community regarding the win. After all, “Flip the Senate, Flip the Senate” has been a statewide queer mantra for years.
Majority leader Joe Bruno has refused to let most of our bills see any action on the floor. The hope is that once the Dems gain control, there’ll be movement on marriage equality, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act and the anti-bullying Dignity for All Students Act.
Why the silence on Aubertine? He’s on record as opposing same-sex marriage equality.
According to gay advocacy group Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA), Sen. Aubertine’s position on GENDA is unknown but he is publicly in support of Dignity for All.
Regardless of Aubertine’s record on gay marriage, flipping the Senate will at least give Dems a chance to bring up the issue for discussion.
The state’s newest Senator also underscores the danger of labeling our issues in terms of partisan support. Democrat does not always equal pro-LGBT just as Republican does not always equal anti-LGBT.
“The reality check is that there is never a magic bullet in Albany,” ESPA’s executive director Alan Van Capelle told The Blade. “Electing one more Democrat to the Senate will not solve our problems. Even with a Democratic majority leader, we will still need Republican and Democratic votes to pass our legislation.”
A case in point is last summer’s Assembly vote for same-sex marriage equality. Despite the overwhelming lead in that chamber—108 to 42 seats—the bill was never considered a sure-fire win.
A bill needs 72 votes to pass the Assembly, and the final count was 85-61 for marriage equality. Needless to say, the votes did not automatically fall along party lines, and the Dems relied on the GOP support—which they found in Republican Assemblymembers Joseph Lentol, Teresa Sayward and Dede Scozzafava.
In the Senate, every individual lawmaker must be lobbied regarding LGBT issues. We cannot take for granted that he or she is for or against our issues simply based on red vs. blue.
“We’re going to spend a lot of energy this year having conversations with senators on both sides of the aisle,” Van Capelle promised.
In Opposition of John McCain
The Arizona Senator cinched the GOP nomination for president—even earning the dubious support of George W.
We cannot abide misinformation about his stance on gay marriage. McCain supporters would have you think the septuagenarian Senator was for marriage equality. They base this daydream on the fact that McCain very openly opposed the anti-gay federal marriage amendment when it was up for vote in 2004.
True, he did decry the amendment—but not on the grounds it was homophobic legislation. Instead, it was on the grounds that the federal government should not be in the business of creating marriage law. That, he maintains, is better left to each individual state.
When an anti-gay marriage ban was up for vote in Arizona, he supported it. In short, McCain is against marriage equality; he just believes that individual states—not the federal government—should carry out the discrimination.
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