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Statement by ESPA Executive Director Alan Van Capelle
New York City, January 21, 2004 – This President came into office wearing a suit of compassion and last night he exposed himself for what he is, an emperor with no clothes. The homophobia in his remarks was palpable and they diminish the office of the President.
He had the opportunity to lift up our country and unite us around common goals. Instead he chose to play to the worst fears of Americans and divide us in the most cynical of ways during an election year.
Among other things, he postured about the sanctity of marriage and threatened to use the Constitution as a weapon to withhold basic rights and responsibilities from an entire class of people. He defamed and insulted gay families to rally his political base for the upcoming election.
As Brittany Spears illustrated, there is no inherent sanctity in two people just deciding to get married. What is sacred is when two people in love commit to spending their lives together and forming a family. That love has no less sanctity when it is between two people of the same sex.
Gay couples live in every county of New York State and in practically every county across this nation. One in four are raising children. Gay families need and deserve the same access all other families have to civil marriage and the benefits and obligations government provides with it.
In this regard, most New Yorkers and many Americans do not share the President’s vision for America. Thankfully many elected officials in New York State on both sides of the aisle also do not share this vision. They believe gay couples should have the same rights and responsibilities they have as Americans. They do not understand why my partner cannot visit me in the hospital as a member of my family. They do not understand why my partner should have no say in the disposal of my remains if I were to die. And they do not understand why my partner should not be eligible for Social Security survivor benefits, workers compensation survivor benefits or many of the other rights and protections they receive.
Many New Yorkers and many Americans actually believe in equality as guaranteed by the Constitution. So should our President.
Founded in 1990, the Empire State Pride Agenda is New York's statewide civil rights organization committed to achieving full equality and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) New Yorkers and our families. The Pride Agenda fights for these objectives by: educating the public, elected officials and policymakers; building coalitions and mobilizing allies; and, organizing and empowering the LGBT community. Victories include the enactment of statewide sexual orientation non-discrimination and hate crimes laws, the repeal of the consensual sodomy statute, and winning more than $12.5 million in state funds for LGBT health and human services statewide. Other victories include the passage of local non-discrimination measures in Westchester County, Nassau County, Suffolk County, and Buffalo, the enactment of a transgender non-discrimination law in NYC, and the enactment of a series of state laws, regulations, and private relief initiatives that provided equal benefits to LGBT surviving partners of 9/11 victims. With thousands of supporters, the Pride Agenda has offices in NYC and Albany and is the largest statewide LGBT organization in the country.
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