Is David Paterson the New Harvey Milk?

Harvey Milk could charm a banana out of a gorilla's hands. God Himself cocked his ear whenever he made a speech. And clearly, few politicians sacrificed more for their cause.

A lot of gay folks have been waiting for Harvey to come back in another form. But really, who'd have thought that the next Harvey Milk would be straight?

Or black?

Or blind?

Just like a lot of African-Americans think of Barack Obama as the Next Great Leader after Martin Luther King, my guess is that if New York governor David Paterson keeps up the fight for New York gay marriage, a lot of gay folks are going to see him as Harvey Milk 2.0.

Sure, there have been others that have come close, notably Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, and Bill Clinton. Yes, BILL CLINTON (click here to see why he'll be remembered as a gay civil rights pioneer).

Which reminds me -- why is it that the most iconic gay civil rights figures since Milk are straight? Can you imagine feminists trumpeting some male politician as the next Susan B. Anthony?

At any rate, David Paterson's role in introducing and leading the fight for the legalization of same sex marriage is nothing short of stunning. We're used to seeing prominent figures advocate vague and evasive concepts of gay equal rights (Obama and civil unions anybody?), but this is something else entirely.

The head of the second biggest state in the union isn't just giving lip service to gays (!) or straddling the fence with mealy-mouthed platitudes. If Harvey Milk were alive today he'd have footprints on his back -- from Paterson jumping over him, yelling, "Charge!" and leading the fight into enemy territory. The good Governor not only personally introduced a bill to legalize gay marriage; he's going to lead the campaign for passage.

He's risking his political life and he's doing it in the most inspiring way possible. Check out this passage of his historic speech:

"Anyone that has ever experienced degradation or intolerance would understand the solemn duty and how important it actually is. Anyone that's ever experienced anti-Semitism or racism, any New Yorker who is an immigrant, who has experienced discrimination, any woman who has faced harassment at work or suffered violence at home, any disabled person who has been mocked or marginalized, understands what we're talking about here.

We have all known the wrath of discrimination. We have all felt the pain and the insult of hatred. This is why we are all standing here today. We stand to tell the world that we want equality for everyone. We stand to tell the world that we want marriage equality in New York State."

He went on to say, "rights should not be stifled by fear" and that "silence should not be a response to injustice."

Is he channeling Milk or what?

Milk once said, "If a bullet should go through my head let that bullet go through every closet door." David Paterson could be the man to fire a missile at all those closet doors that tragic bullet missed.

For further reading:
How gay marriage strengthens straight marriage

Where does gay marriage rank in the top ten reasons why heterosexuals divorce?

I'm gay and not sold on gay marriage

Comments

[nicole473]

Stunning? Not really. Paterson is all about political gain. His approval ratings were suffering --- voila --- he comes out in support of gay marriage.

[DarthVector]

Great. Just the person for the job. Someone who will jump at the chance to do what voters want, rather than push his own ideas.

[LMPE]

Has Sean Hannity gone into conniptions yet?

[Danigirl65]

I've long admired Paterson for his honesty and his ability to see the greater good. This is one politician I have difficulty pinning down, and I like him for that. From his admission of marital infidelity to his "off the cuff" selection of Gildebrand for Clinton's seat, this man just keeps us guessing.

This is a bold and brave move on his part and I applaud him for it. By the way, I am not one of his constituents; I'm from Illinois.

[S1m0n]

By pounding hard on the 'civil rights' frame, Patterson may well be just the man to sell the black community on equal marriage.

[Citizen-Jane]

Many blacks in the community support gay marriage. Some of them include high profile african american NYers.

At any case. The legal right to marry is the goal.

[historymatters]

Thanks for including the excerpt from Paterson's speech. It neatly summarizes why gay marriage is a vital civil rights issue, and why religiously-based prejudice (or any other kind of prejudice) can't be allowed to usurp civil rights.

I think Paterson doesn't care one way or another if he gets re-elected. Not everyone who's in office is power-hungry and obsessed with a lifetime tenure. He is governor because Spitzer had to resign, not because he really wanted that particular job.

So I think Paterson knows that he's in a position of power and influence at an important time in history, and that forces have aligned to allow him to make a big contribution toward assuring equal rights for everyone, at least in New York. And hopefully someday the rest of the country (and the world).

[Michael Henry Adams - Huffpost Blogger]

Please excuse my saying so, but if you entertain some notion that Governor Patterson is either unconcerned with retaining power or merely wishes to do the right thing by Gays instead of shopping for votes , you cannot be familiar with his history then. Ask Phil Reed; who circulated fliers questioning his 'fitness' to lead because he was Gay, when they opposed each other at the start of the Governor's career? Gifted and able, Patterson unfortunately is most handicapped by unrelenting opportunism.

[DarthVector]

The opportunist, who does only what will get him voted back in, does the will of the people. So he's self-interested - fine, we will use him to achieve our own ends, which are justice for all and tolerance for everybody.

[jstephenclark]

Mr. Alvear's depiction of Bill Clinton as a gay-rights pioneer is outrageously absurd. Bill Clinton's two biggest contributions to the history of gay rights are (1) utterly botching the ending of the ban on gays in the military and allowing it to be CODIFIED into law as DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL, under which more gays were ejected from the military than before, and (2) signing and then advertising his support of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). I would add, moreover, that in his haste to sign and tout DOMA, Clinton absolutely refused to allow the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to be passed alongside DOMA in 1996. The Administration orchestrated its defeat in the Senate.

Bill Clinton was all talk, no commitment. Rarely, he did dropped the word gay into a speech--very rarely--but mostly he just buried daggers deeply in the backs of every lesbian and gay man who supported him. As 40-year-old gay man, I remember the events clearly. Mr. Alvear's revisionist history is bizarre--and totally incorrect. History should condemn Bill Clinton for what he was: a complete coward and fraud on gay rights.

[llisa]

Governor Patterson's got it exactly right. This is not a gay rights issue. It is a human rights issue.

We need to respect all people regardless of color, sex, disability, etc. We do not need to grant any of these people "special" rights. We need to grant all the SAME rights.

[bbbtmenw]

I love this Guy.

Thanks DP!

The marriage debate isn't just about marriage.

It is about:

-Gay teens committing suicide 6 times higher than straight teens.
-Every 6 hours a hate crime occurs against a gay person in the US.
-Gays are denied equal civil rights.

And one of the biggest jokes and horrors, Not allowed to serve in military openly. Please, there are more gays in the military by percentage than in my local coffee house in the center of a gay neighborhood.

Not being considered "NORMAL" and not receiving equal rights under the law cause kids to feel different, wrong and depressed enough to kill themselves. These teach straight kids and adults that it is okay to discriminate and spread hate. This makes people feel it is okay to harass gays even at a funeral.

Until the laws are changed, we will not be able to end these horrible crimes and situations.

WE ARE DYING, Our KIDS ARE DYING....t­his is no simple marriage matter; It is SO MUCH MORE.

[lenzorizzo]

I always taught my son that homosexuality is and has always been simply a percentage of the vast range of NORMAL human sexuality, and is therefore NORMAL. Just a smaller percentage on the spectrum than heterosexuality. Normal normal normal!

[bbbtmenw]

Thank you.

[Pleneras]

"And one of the biggest jokes and horrors, Not allowed to serve in military openly. Please, there are more gays in the military by percentage than in my local coffee house in the center of a gay neighborho­od."

Now I have a problem with that one. In my 8 years of service living for months with men and women board a ship in deployment several times, and living for 3 years on ship before going on shore, I can tell you they are NOT IN THE CLOSET. Everyone knows they are gay or lesbian and do not mind. No Chief, Officer or anyone cares about their sexual preference. The only time they are remove is when they tell an officer to "get out". "We don't ask, you don't have to tell." That has always been the understanding. Everyone knew our shipmate was gay as were several others but she wanted to get out so she TOLD an officer and he had to follow up with procedures. Did he want her to verbally disclose what he already knew? No! She was the best in his team. What they cannot do just as any straight person cannot do is hit while on the job or the wrong person.

[TJCole]

Stunning no, pandering and posturing playing politics yes...

[fya]

He's just trying to get reelected.

[historymatters]

by bringing up one of the issues most guaranteed to bring the right wing to the polls on election day? Right. That makes sense.

[Michael Henry Adams - Huffpost Blogger]

he's calculating a narrow coalition that he feels will let him win. He wouldn't get conservative votes in any case.

[glorialovelace]

He's trying to do the right thing so that if he doesn't get reelected, he will nevertheless have accomplished something very important, valuable and excellent.

[Pleneras]

You got it right.

[Benton]

And if in trying to get reelected he does things that warrant reelection, so what? And since when did aggressively championing gay marriage become the path to state wide election. What other Governors has fought for gay equal rights as a campaign strategy?

[OhgReaTone]

There is no need to stereotype Governor Patterson or Harvey Milk. My mother is 85 and lives in rural Missouri - she had some common sense ideas about marriage. The constitution did not say she could or could not marry my father - so why do we assume same sex people cannot be married?. ..........­.....

http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/11/02/old-women-talk-politics/

[TJCole]

9th Amendment is the best law based argument allowing for same sex marriage..­.

[Thurber]

Bill Clinton was a friend to LGBT people in rhetoric only. It's the primary reason I supported Obama over Hilary Clinton, even though her rhetoric was decidedly more gay friendly.

Bill Clinton signed the most onerous homophobic bill into law in my lifetime, the Orwellian named Defense of Marriage Act. It is, and should be called, the Homophobic Marriage Rights Exclusion Act. HomoREA sounds about right to me. Like it or not, Republicans and Republican appointed Jurists have done more for my rights than Democrats (the recent veto of gay marriage by a Democratic Governor of VT being the latest example).

Every year that I have to pay my "gay" tax, the difference between our bill if we could file jointly and what our actual bill is since we can't (I have to figure it out since we file a joint state return based on an invalid federal return that must be completed first), I curse Bill Clinton. Take overt Republican objection to marriage equality away and you could see a 5 to 10% shift in the vote, that's more than enough to wipe out Democratic power at almost all levels of government.

[HawaiiBill]

Governor Douglas in Vermont is a Republican not a Democrat.

[RealityBaseCamp]

Somebody told me, "Paterson wasn't elected, yet he's taking it on himself to just change state policy." When I got home, I found out that was code for "He's supporting gay marriage." Never mind that he's doing what the Governor we DID elect was trying to do, and what most of the people in the state want. Also never mind the fact that the Legislature we elected has to pass it, or it will never happen. Come on, NY! Iowa & Vermont are ahead of us already, and we still have a chance to beat California.

[larry278]

The fragment, "...giving lip service...­to the idea of gay marriage..­.", is a hoot. We need legislation in all of the several states to make gay marriage legal. We also need legislation in all of the several [50] states, etc, to make divorce for married & those united by civil unions gay couples legal & possible. Infidileity & other things have & will continue to destroy gay marriages & civil unions in a de facto sense. Gays must have the right to divorce, now.