Kirsten Gillibrand Reached Out To Gay Rights Group

One of the first acts that Kirsten Gillibrand took upon learning that she would succeed Hillary Clinton as New York Senator was to reach out to the state's leading gay rights advocacy organization.

According to a source at Empire State Pride Agenda, the upstate Democrat placed a call to the organization last night to discuss her approach on LGBT issues. A subsequent statement from the group, issued this morning, suggests that Gillibrand will be an allied voice.

"After talking to Kirsten Gillibrand, I am very happy to say that New York is poised to have its first U.S. Senator who supports marriage equality for same-sex couples," said Van Capelle. "She also supports the full repeal of the federal DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) law, repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) and passage of legislation outlawing discrimination against transgender people. While we had a productive discussion about a whole range of LGBT concerns, I was particularly happy to hear where she stands on these issues."

The elucidation of her stance on gay rights is likely to be one of several steps that the soon-to-be Senator will take as she enters higher office. Elected to Congress in a hotly contested 2006 race, Gillibrand has a short political resume. Known as a fiscal hawk in the House, she voted against the TARP funds but also rankled some of the more progressive voices in the Democratic Party. Various groups are rushing to shed light on her positions. Public Campaign Action Fund, for example, sent out an email showing that Gillibrand is a proponent of publicly financed elections.

"She's for public financing," wrote David Donnelly of the affiliated Campaign Money Watch, "and we have pictures to prove it."

Comments

[lovesds]

I love how some people are saying this lady is for gay rights. Some people never do their homework on their politicians. The only reason this woman was picked is because of her father,Schumer and D'Amato. It's all about the favors and money. Talk about Blago doing pay for play take a good look at this choice (pay to play). If you notice some people on here only care she supports gay marriage. Hate to tell you people the world doesn't revolve around you. I guess no one considered a minority woman. Oh, I forgot that you replace one white woman with another white woman. There are alot of minority woman that were qualified for this job and they were totally ignored. TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT HOW YOUR OTHER SENATOR SCHUMER WORKS. SCHUMER IS THE ONE THAT LOVES TO PROTECT HIS BUDDIES ON WALL STREET. New York is no different than the southern states. Take a look at how many people of color you have in the U.S. CONGRESS.

[RODERICK098]

Has anyone noticed how obsessed tr24 is with homosexuality. Look at tr 24 postings-gay,gay, gay. Psychiatrists say' show me some one who hates gay people and I will show you a closeted self loathing gay person'. You are so obviously closeted TR24 and 'I want pie ' is as well
that you both really should come out of the closet because everyone knows you are gay anyway. Your life will be a lot better and maybe your hatred of other gay people -who have more courage than you do to live their lives as mother nature intended -will disappear.

[FreetoBme]

Good for you. I've noticed it too.
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks". = Hamlet

[harrymellon]

Im glad she supports gun rights. As tyranny pervades America where you can be spied on, wire tapped, have your camera illegally confiscated by police for recording them murdering someone on the subway etc the people need guns to prevent dictatorship from winning especially during an economic collapse. CNN is already touting the need to take away assault rifles in cities.

[Pupster]

She voted for FISA and immunity for the phone companies, so you can thank her for that as well.

[LillianB]

If a New York Senator pick didn't, I'd be very disappointed. (Hillary's presumed reason not to = primaries.­..) New York politicians should be fighting in the forefront against discrimination of any kind. They're representing the great state of the greatest city in the world.

NYC is the only city in the world that's the world in a city. Should any politician be worthy of representing it's state, they should be against any form of discrimination.

So: Let New York lead. Let California follow. And sooner or later, the states in between will come along, too.

[Pupster]

According to the Human Rights Campaign, she voted against the repealing of “Don’ Ask, Don’t Tell” legislation, opposed legislation that would grant equal tax treatment for employer-provided health coverage for domestic partners, opposed legislation to grant same-sex partners of U.S. citizens and permanent residents the same immigration benefits of married couples and opposed legislation to permit state Medicaid programs to cover low-income, HIV-positive Americans before they develop AIDS.

She has been anti-gay her whole career, and has the record (of votes, not empty promises) to prove it. She changed her stance only when she started lobbying for the senate seat. Trust her/

[joeyfoto]

I'm a New York City lover. I grew up on a ranch in California; I was working in Hollywood when I went to NYC for the first time - fell in love with the city and ended up living in lower Manhattan (NoHo) for 13 years. BUT the assertion that "NYC is the only city in the world that's the world in a city" ignores Paris. You can't ignore Paris. Paris is too beautiful to be ignored. I live there part of each year and I miss it when I'm gone.

I do agree with your demand that: "Should any politician be worthy of representing it's state, they should be against any form of discrimina­tion." But, then I feel that should be the case in Kansas. This is America; we're not free of bigotry but we have a long and honorable tradition of resistance. Vive la résistance.

[LillianB]

Hi, Joeyfoto, I'm happy for your response to my comment. But when I say "the only city in the world that's the world in a city", I'm thinking of the great variety of demographies, not about beauty. No city in the world is as varied as NYC demographically, and because of that, the city's and the state's politicians should be THE strongest anti-discrimination politicians anywhere. And then, like I said, everyone else should follow...

[Piatt]

We're witnessing one of the greatest and quickest political transformations. It's right up there with Mitt Romney's morph from liberal Governor of Massachusetts into right wing pandering Presidential candidate. The NRA Poster Girl now wants to work on gun control legislation with Congresswoman McCarthy! And she's a gay marriage supporter!

Given the forthcoming metamorphosis, she certainly won't be returning to Congress from her current district after she's defeated in the 2010 primary.

[blueskybigstar]

I guess they will be s hot g u n weddings.

[LiberalDemIda]

It's "rubba-dub-dub, scrub, scrub, scrub" in overdrive, courtesy of the DLC/Repub monied connections.

All she has to do now is keep up the progressive farce for less than two years, fool progressive New Yorkers enough to vote her back into office, dim the limelight of public scrutiny while hoping they forget the photo-op with Al D'Amato and Bruno, and it's back to pro-corporate business as usual.

People, past is prologue and you just can't scrub the corporate stripes off a DLCer.

[silverkjk]

Ms. Gillibrand, according to HRC, has voted against allowing same-sex partners the same ability to stay in the US that straight people have, has voted against Medicaid payments for low-income people who are HIV positive but are not yet diagnosed with AIDS, has said that she is in favor of "separate but equal" re marriage rights, and refused to co-sponsor of efforts to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. She had the lowest HRC score of any NY representative. Yet it appears that on the eve of the announcement of her appointment, she has suddenly had an awakening and is supportive of our community. And it appears that despite her history of actions, a telephone call made to an insider group won her support from them. Given her history, I doubt that anyone on the right has anything to worry about. She however does not seem to reflect the values of NY Democrats and may well not be electable as a result.

[smithshaw08]

Where is your source? This is on the HRC website right now regarding Kirsten.
**Supports the Early Treatment of HIV/AIDS Act (ETHA) to allow states to provide Medicaid coverage for HIV-positive persons**

Remember she is a politician. Flip flop is a common disease.

[Piatt]

I think you need to raise your expectations.

[Pupster]

The source is the record of her votes. Her conversion to a pro-gay stance only started when she started to lobby for this senate seat.

[joeyfoto]

If the high emotional IQ of President Obama has anything to teach us, it's that it doesn't matter how Congresswoman Gillibrand voted in the past. All that matters is how she will vote in the future. I'm not saying don't track votes, but I am saying that shifts in strategic alliances often cause dramatic changes in voting patterns. Is it possible that she could not vote her conscience and hope to keep an upstate seat, but as soon as she had a shot at statewide office, she aligned herself with a cause she believed in? I don't know her voting record or her heart but one thing I do know; it's the disclaimer: "Past performance is no guarantee of future results." We'll see...jt

[SD Indy]

WOW! One of our resident big.ots is up early this morning. How are you tr24? Why is it that you seem to pay attention so much to LGBT issues? Latent tendencies much?

[tr24]

Hi net nanny! How are you this fine day? I see you are on the job as usual.

[Nikola Tesla]

Come out , come out, wherever you are!

[zukervati]

She's hot!!!!

[kewps]

I agree!

[Nikola Tesla]

Repost:

The California State Supreme Court formally accepted the case challenging it's Constitutionality yesterday. If previous behavior is a good indicator of future behavior, Prop 8 will be struck down by the Republican controlled California Supreme Court and it's proponents will have to pursue their need to legislate bigotry through a Legislative Branch Approved Proposition.

Try reading the Constitution you intend to amend before doing so, then maybe you won't f*ck up so often.

[tr24]

^Only this simpleton believes the CA Supreme Court trumps the SCOTUS! Please get informed so you don't continue to wallow in your own ignorance.

[SD Indy]

When it comes to state's rights, SCOTUS has ZERO jurisdiction. Learn your law so you don't look like such a fool.

[smithshaw08]

Look in the mirror dipstick. YOU are the ignorant one. You think you are so smart, but you continually make a fool of yourself. The SCOTUS had nothing to do with prop 8. Every comment someone makes, you & your sidekick have to have the last word. It's so juvenile. Now do everyone a favor & don't comment after this one.

[joeyfoto]

What ever gave anybody the idea that he or she has a vote on other people's civil rights? If there is an issue that is appropriately decide in the courts is is Proposition 8. Out of state money spearheaded an utterly dishonest campaign designed to frighten people into passing an absurd initiative to take away a legal right that gay men and lesbian women already had been granted by this same state court. The only potential justice in the matter would be IF the Mormon & Catholic churches wasted a huge sum of money on a sleazy political campaign that dishonestly won votes then was overturned by the court. Let's hope...

Doesn't anybody study the histories of these two institutions? They are both comic strips of corruption. Why isn't this institutionalized hypocrisy on Saturday Night Live? Thanks to Mussolini, the Pope presides over, The Vatican, the only exclusively homosexual state on earth, where they dress up every day as if it was Halloween on Castro Street, Who's kidding whom? The history of the Mormons... don't even go there... But, to top it off, they're both big on that Book that says: "Judge not lest ye shall be judged." And I just said Good Luck...jt

[Nikola Tesla]

The difference between an Amendment and a Revision in California.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Constitution#Amendments_and_revisions

[Terypat]

It doesn't sound like much vetting had be done on her. If her own party does not know where she stands on issues, how are the citizens of NY suppose to know? New York will be fun to watch in 2010.

[Pupster]

She'll promise to stand wherever Schumer, Clinton and Paterson wants until she gets the seat. But then Al D'Amato takes over.

[iwantpie]

Goodnight tr24.

[smithshaw08]

yawn

[tr24]

Bored with your ownself?

[tr24]

Goodnight Pie!

[smithshaw08]

run along TR. There are no gays left to bash.

[RODERICK098]

Two closet cases saying goodnight to each other. Isn't that sweet.

[iwantpie]

I have to give it to you people, you own the internet, but we own the ballot box. How many states is s.a.m.e-s.­e.x m.a.r.r.i.­a.g.e.s b.a.n again, please refresh my memory?

[tr24]

Apparently not enough. Huffpo is definitely not helping their cause.

[smithshaw08]

What about civil unions granting federal rights equal to marriage? Will you fight that too?

[iwantpie]

Only if I had to vote.

[tjwdraws]

Yes, majority taking rights from the minority is still quite popular with the Christian-Taliban of the USA but the times they are a-changing.

[MathIsTruth]

A more important question is: "In how many states was it legal 5 years ago?"

If you understand the idea of trends, you'll understand how lost your cause is.

The biggest problem for you and yours is something called "reality".

Five years ago, it was somewhat difficult to combat the dire predictions of what would happen to society and traditional marriage if same-sex marriage were to be legalized. After all, the debate was one person's opinion against another.

But now all that has changed. Everyone who wishes to participate in the debate honestly, must look to Massachusetts for facts instead of inside their own heads for opinions. The FACTS are that every dire prediction you guys made was WRONG. Every. Single. One.

Same-sex marriage, as it turns out (and as many predicted), is 100% fine for society. (Aside from the fact that it irritates some people.)

[Pupster]

You have no idea what NY state is like, right? Or who the donors in the state are? And where their politics are?

[tr24]

Don't be surprised if Gillibrand and Patterson are sending out their respective resumes after the next election. This is a poor, poor choice and obviously most people in NY won't agree with his decision.

[iwantpie]

I believe she's a place holder, but Patterson is out. Low approval rating and blind.

[Paulied]

iwantpie to shut the f*ck up!

[tr24]

I honestly thought Patterson was smarter than this. This was a bad choice anyway you want to look at it, and definitely puts his and her seats in play for the Republicans during the next election. All they have to mention is "gay marriage" and over half of the electorate will instantly side with them.