CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg will make his first trip to Albany on Tuesday for the specific purpose of lobbying state lawmakers to pass the marriage equality bill.
A Bloomberg administration spokesperson told The Advocate the mayor will meet with lawmakers including state senate majority leader Dean Skelos, who opposes the marriage equality bill but has said he will not prevent it from coming to the floor for a vote this session, a top priority of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The mayor, a Republican turned independent, has been a major financial contributor to senate Republicans, whose support is needed to pass the measure. The bill failed in the senate in 2009 after passing the assembly three times.
Mayor Bloomberg will join with officials including New York City Council speaker Christine Quinn, the out lesbian lawmaker who has been making weekly trips to Albany to lobby lawmakers. Last month, she said that she believed the state was on the verge of an "amazing, amazing victory," and suggested that she had been able to flip the vote of at least one senator who had been a "very disappointing 'no' vote on marriage."
In addition to his lobbying, Bloomberg has donated at least $100,000 of his own money to the New Yorkers United for Marriage coalition of LGBT organizations working to pass the bill by June, and on May 25 he plans to hold a fundraiser for marriage equality featuring Rufus Wainwright at his foundation, where individual attendees will be asked to contribute from $10,000 to $25,000, according to an invited guest. The next day, the mayor will deliver a speech on marriage equality at Cooper Union that is expected to echo the themes of freedom and basic fairness expressed in his passionate address last summer in support of the mosque and community center proposed near the World Trade Center site.
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
18 of the most batsh*t things N.C. Republican governor candidate Mark Robinson has said
October 30 2024 11:06 AM
True
After 20 years, and after tonight, Obama will no longer be the Democrats' top star
August 20 2024 12:28 PM
Trump ally Laura Loomer goes after Lindsey Graham: ‘We all know you’re gay’
September 13 2024 2:28 PM
60 wild photos from Folsom Street East that prove New York City knows how to play
June 21 2024 12:25 PM
Melania Trump cashed six-figure check to speak to gay Republicans at Mar-a-Lago
August 16 2024 5:57 PM
Latest Stories
'Glimmer of hope' as STI rates slow, syphilis decreases among gay men
November 12 2024 1:03 PM
Harper Steele: Trans people can't be sacrificed in political debate
November 12 2024 12:32 PM
Cameron Wright: the 'provocative' nonbinary singer making waves on 'The Voice'
November 12 2024 11:59 AM
Trump’s election prompts one nonprofit to prioritize scholarships for LGBTQ+ youth in red states
November 12 2024 9:45 AM
Grammy-nominated Chappell Roan has four-word response to management split story