senators emotionally charged and focused on the mission of true
equality; I cried. They were men, woman, black, white, Jew,
Catholic, Christian, and non-believers all arguing for the rights
my family needs and deserve … this was clearly a win for the LGBT
community. It was sad that we lost the battle but what was
rewarding was seeing true courage.
Yesterday, Ruth Hassell-Thompson and Brian Foley both supported
marriage equality for the first time in public on the floor of the
Senate even as they knew the marriage bill was not going to pass.
That is the sign of a true leader not a follower. Several other
senators express the gratitude they had for all the hard work the
LGBT community has done in exposing their personal stories to
them. My disappointment came from the dysfunction with the NY
State Senate.
This set back was political and not about our
families!!!
Not a single republican expressed a reason for their vote. What
type of Debate is that? And what about those Republicans we all
knew would vote in support of marriage? As many lobbyist and
activists on both sides of the aisle will attest to, the
republicans were only going to vote in support of marriage equality
if they knew their vote would put them on the winning side of the
issue. What type of leader or Senator is that? I say to all
the Republican Senators from Long Island for who I asked for your
help for me, my husband and especially my son, shame on you.
Maybe calling those republican senators all cowards is too strong
a word, but leader is definitely not a word I would use to describe
any of them.
Jeffrey Friedman
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