High-school students comprised a large section of the 2,000 attendees
at an Albany rally. The event was part of Empire State Pride Agenda’s
annual lobbying effort called LGBT Equality & Justice Day. Student volunteers Nefertiti Martin
from the Bronx and Mark Emsak from Staten Island teach fellow students how to lobby their lawmakers.
SAGE opens a cyber center for LGBT senior citizens.
Plus: Staten Island stabbing, a GOP anti-bullying bill and Stonewall Dems’ Endorsement Flap
Effective immediately, Mass. repeals law that prohibited most out-of-state couples from getting hitched there.
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By TRENTON STRAUBE
Friday, April 25, 2008
When Staten Island high-schooler Dominic Ariando was in middle school, life was tough. He was teased for being gay and different. “It was hard,” he recalled. “It hurt, and it affected me. I used to have high grades, but they dropped.” Teachers were “ignorant” about his plight and didn’t offer help. Eventually, he switched schools. Since then, life—and grades—has improved.
This week, Ariando joined nearly 300 teenagers from across the state to lobby Albany lawmakers to pass the Dignity for All Students Act, a bill that would prohibit bias harassment and bullying based on race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation and gender expression.
The student contingent was just one of many groups participating in the annual LGBT Equality & Justice Day, a lobbying effort organized by advocacy group Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA).
A record-breaking 1,300 people attended the daylong event, held Tuesday, April 29. The program offered training sessions on how to lobby, informational meetings about LGBT legislation, an interfaith service, a transgender workshop (hosted by Donna Rose), a rally, speeches by LGBT leaders and, of course, lobbying sessions with state lawmakers.
At Blade press time, ESPA was tallying and confirming the results of the lobby efforts—the group keeps a running scorecard of lawmaker’s stance on the three LGBT bills working their way through both the Assembly and Senate.
In addition to the Dignity Act, there’s the Marriage Equality Bill and the Gender-Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA). Dignity and Marriage Equality have passed the Assembly. None has passed the Senate.
A commonly held assumption is that none will come up for a vote this session because it’s an election year; besides, the Assembly passed Marriage Equality last summer, so the community has no more political clout. Only one gay bill per election cycle, right? Wrong, said ESPA executive director Alan Van Capelle, in one of the main messages of the day.
Not that all Equality & Justice focus was directed toward these three bills, nor was it only about face time with lawmakers.
The event affords a rare chance for activists who don’t live in New York City to meet other people doing similar work in different parts of the state. “This is best opportunity we have to bring local activists together in one place and to speak with one voice,” Van Capelle said. “That’s the real power of the day.”
Another not-so-obvious takeaway is to show Albany the support the LGBT community has from non-gay people. Indeed, clergy members and labor unions—part of ESPA’s Pride in the Pulpit and Pride in My Union programs—were visible among the crowd.
As were the high school students, a contingent that Van Capelle, an executive in his 30s, was astutely aware of. In his prior work with labor unions, Van Capelle had many mentors, a situation that changed when he switched careers to LGBT activism.
“We lost a generation or so of mentors because of HIV/AIDS,” he said. “But now people in their 30s and 40s can serve as mentors. And to anybody who was wondering whether there’s another generation ready to take over our movement, the answer is yes. The LGBT movement in New York doesn’t have to worry about the next generation of leadership because they were there [in Albany].”
Siobahn Eareckson, a high-schooler from West Babylon who has been involved in Gay Straight Alliances, attended the Albany event with her younger brother in mind. “He’s 11 years old and already had to transfer schools because he was called a faggot,” she said. “Now, he’s in a school where there’s only eight students. Dignity would have helped.”
Openly gay Sen. Tom Duane, who sponsors the Dignity Bill in his chamber, promised the Equality & Justice Day crowd the bill would pass with gender identity protections included. He is holding a Senate hearing June 10 on Dignity.
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