Brian Brown and NOM have done something, that no one has been able to do before: they have helped Black and Hispanic people throughout the nation to find our voice when everyone else rejected us and excluded us from the debate.
You should know that NOM has not divided us, it has brought us unity; NOM has given a voice to the voiceless on the marriage issue, and shown us respect for our core, and sacred values on marriage---a respect the mainstream media has consistently denied us.
Sen. Ruben Diaz's building is about to be occupied by the gays:
The Bronx’s largest gay-rights group is unfurling its rainbow flag tomorrow at its new headquarters -- ironically located in a building funded by, and named after, the city’s No. 1 gay-marriage opponent, state Sen. Ruben Diaz.
It’s left Diaz, who’s also an ordained minister, hot and bothered, sources said. Bronx Pride unpacked boxes yesterday in preparation for tomorrow’s opening in the Rev. Ruben Diaz Gardens.
“I hope people say, ‘Wow, they’re reclaiming this building for the LGBT community!’ ” laughed Executive Director Dirk McCall. “We’re very excited.”
Mad that no man would marry him, Sen Ruben Diaz threatens to annul all gay marriages:
Thousands of protesters rallied in several cities around the state, a signal that the long fight for recognition may not be over just yet.
State Sen. Ruben Diaz, a minister who was the sole Democrat to vote against gay marriage when the Legislature approved it, told a crowd near the United Nations that he and other opponents would try to get Sunday’s marriages annulled, saying judges broke the law by waiving the 24-hour waiting period without a good reason.
“We’re going to show them next week that everything they did today was illegal,” he said, speaking in Spanish.
This man needs to be recalled. Get on it, New York!
Oh Ruben... After he gave his 'Best Actress in a Drama' scene last Friday; he is now playing a new role, History Maker.
But before I get there, Ruben goes on a rant about how Christians lost the gay marriage battle:
We have to organize better. The problem with the Christian movement, with the Christians and pastors, is that they pray too much and act too little," the Bronx state senator told CP.
Diaz has blamed the failure to block gay marriage in New York on switch-vote Republicans for "becoming a tool of the Democratic party" and in part on Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos for allowing the bill to come to a vote.
Don't you love it? You got to blame somebody, right? But here's the part that gets me:
I made history. I'm the only New York State Democrat that voted against the bill. I will wear it as a badge of honor," he said.
"No one will make abandon my faith. No one can make me change my life. I love Jesus. All what I am or what I do, all of what I have is because of His grace."
When asked what he thought about Republican Sen. Mark Grisanti of Buffalo, who went against his Catholic faith and original position to eventually vote "yes" on the gay marriage bill, Diaz said he would back any churches that wanted to "teach him a lesson."
Boy please, this mess right here
You didn't make history, you just made a fool of yourself.
Yesterday, key senators move in favor of Gay marriage. At one point, they were against it, now they have changed their minds.
Three wavering Democratic lawmakers in the State Senate on Monday announced that they now support the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York, marking a potential turning point for the long-debated measure.
Within an hour of the announcement by the three Democrats, a Republican senator said that he, too, is open to supporting same-sex marriage.
“If the bill comes to the floor the way that I would like to see it, I will support it,” Senator James S. Alesi, a Monroe County Republican, said before going into a meeting with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. Mr. Alesi did not elaborate.
The three Democratic senators — Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. and Shirley L. Huntley of Queens and Carl Kruger of Brooklyn — all voted against the measure in 2009, when it failed by a wide margin. Their switch to the yes column leaves all but one Senate Democrat supporting same-sex marriage — and the fate of the legislation in the hands of the Republican majority in the chamber.
See here
Also in the same day, Sen. Ruben Diaz leaves the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus because they are supporting marriage equality. Here is his little letter Letter to Caucus From Sen Diaz poor Ruben.
Apparently, Sen. Ruben Diaz don't know his people. Many gathered in support of Gay Marriage a few days ago.
News 12 in the Bronx covered the story
Here's more news
Joined by elected officials and organizations including members of the New Yorkers United for Marriage coalition, local activists will gather at the Bronx Borough Courthouse in the South Bronx on Friday afternoon to present a different face of the borough. They note that of the six state senators who represent the Bronx, five of them support marriage equality, and three are Latino, representing half of the six-member Puerto Rican and Latino Caucus in the state senate.
“The Bronx is united, and the Bronx is united for marriage, not against marriage,” said Dirk McCall, a spokesman for the newly formed Bronx Rainbow Independent Democratic Association, which is organizing the press conference with Marriage Equality New York. “We want people to know that his rally doesn’t speak for the Bronx. This is the true Bronx coming out today.”
Indeed, recent surveys suggest that Díaz holds the less popular opinion in the Bronx, a borough where 52% of the population identifies as Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census. A Siena poll from May, which found that a majority of voters statewide support marriage equality, found that among Hispanics and Latinos, support stood at 55% compared to 41% opposed. According to a Williams Institute study, more same-sex couples are raising families in the Bronx than any other borough, adding local urgency to the marriage push.
The gay marriage debate in New York is on the go and getting heated by the moment. In a passionate speech this past week, Bloomberg challenged the GOP to do the right thing about gay marriage.
Bloomberg said:
It’s fitting that the gay rights movement began in our City, because New Yorkers have always been at the forefront of movements to expand American freedoms – and guarantee American liberties. Long before our founding fathers wisely decided to separate church from state, leading citizens of our City petitioned their colonial rulers for religious freedom. Long before Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, many New Yorkers – including the founder of this college, Peter Cooper – crusaded against slavery. Long before the nation adopted the 19th Amendment, New Yorkers helped lead the movement for women’s suffrage. And long before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, New Yorkers played a pivotal role in advancing a color-blind society.
Ruben came out with this mess:
There is no just comparison between America’s struggle to overcome the evils of slavery and the promotion of the lifestyle of homosexuality. It is preposterous for Mayor Bloomberg to degrade and minimize the plight of African-Americans in this civil rights struggle by equating it with the effort to push to legalize homosexual marriage. […] Black leaders should not allow Mayor Bloomberg or anyone else trivialize their suffering and their history!
Cute Ruben, way to take something and overrun it into the ground. Yes, our paths may be different, but the journey towards civil and equal rights are the same. It is "preposterous" of him to ignore that fact and try to fool people about this issue. Ruben's actions are creating discord and unnecessary foolishness over nothing. How dare he calls himself a preacher when all he is doing is causing a dangerous divide between minority groups.
That's not what a man of God should be doing, Ruben.
Yesterday, many folks (haters and supporters) attended the Anti-Gay marriage rally in the Bronx. This was designed by the hateful Sen. Ruben Diaz with a little help from NOM. Please check out the video clips
