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 February 24, 2008

 

 Republican Assmbelymember Jane Corwin, who has begun her campaign in the yet-uncalled special election for NY's 27 Congressional district, released a statement earlier today condemning President Obama for his administration's decision to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act. 

 

 Her statement, which seeks to criticize Pres. Obama for standing up for LGBTQ equality, reads as follows: 

 

"“The President of the United States swore an oath to uphold the laws of our great country and as a member of the Executive Branch he needs to enforce those laws, including the Defense of Marriage Act. It is the Supreme Court’s job to consider the constitutionality of the law and the President should not usurp the authority of the Supreme Court... DOMA "was signed into law nearly 15 years ago by President Clinton – he himself a Democrat like President Obama – who understood that marriage should be defined as a union between one man and one woman," she continued. "While more Americans lose their jobs every day, the Obama Administration is blatantly ignoring the law of the land for a political stunt, and I hope the Administration will reconsider this wrong decision and focus on strengthening the economy and creating jobs, the number one issue the majority of Western New Yorkers care about.”

 If you are one of the many New Yorkers who lives in Assemblymember Corwin's district, or NY-27 we urge you to contact her and let her know that you are a Western New Yorker who cares about civil rights and equality. Corwin has a history of not supporting civil rights, voting against the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act and Marriage Equality in the State Assembly.

 Yesterday, the Obama administration courageously made headlines by telling the Justice Department to stop prosecuting cases related to the bigoted DOMA legislation. SDWNY commends Pres. Obama for this development, and recognizes Pres. Clinton, whom Corwin mentions in her statement, for realizing the error of DOMA and supporting civil marriage rights for all Americans.

 

Assemblymember Corwin's Offices: 

District Office:

8180 Main St. 

Clarence, NY 14221

716-839-4691

 

Albany Office: 

LOB 721
Albany, NY 12248
518-455-4601



Campaign Contact: 

http://janecorwin.com/contact

Source: NY Daily News

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June 24, 2010

This past Tuesday, Kitty Lambert—Vice President of Community Affairs and President of Outspoken for Equality—and I had the great fortune to attend the Democratic National Committee’s “Day of Pride.”

The event, held in Washington, D.C., came to us by way of a recommendation from the Erie County Democratic Chair Len Lenihan, recognizing the great work that every one of you does, as Stonewall Democrats and Outspoken for Equality members.

It was an honor to have been chosen to represent our organizations at the federal level during this conference. Kitty and I were invited because of the great work our organizations do, and that great work could not be accomplished without each and every one of you, your dedication and your unyielding commitment to the civil rights movement.

And as many good things often do, the invitation to travel to DC and attend a conference where we could meet with national party leaders and policy makers gave us a limited timeframe to work on finding out how we could get to D.C. We held a fundraiser on Saturday to help defray our travel costs, and were extremely humbled by the support we received. We thank you, so very deeply, with our utmost gratitude for your help and support in making our attendance at this conference possible.

On Tuesday, our “Day of Pride” started promptly at 8:30AM. Somewhat tired from previous day’s (and for some of us night’s) travel, we were eager to jump into what the day would bring. Right away, we were able to network and meet people from LGBT groups across the country. We talked proudly of our members and volunteers and the work they do, and compared notes on how LGBT organizing is done throughout our United States, as well as discussing common problems like Democratic officials who don’t support our civil rights.

And then the speakers got underway.  We heard from a diverse, wide-ranging cross-section of LGBT Democratic Party players. Given that our political party is such a big tent, and—shall we say—more willing to agreeing to disagree than other parties, there were some speakers who appeared to just shy away from calling for full civil rights, and seemed to gloss over Marriage Equality. However, when true progressives like Senators Al Franken (D-Minnesota), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) took the stage, we came to see that our party does care about all of our issues. These speakers championed Marriage Equality, repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, repealing DOMA and passing ENDA and the Uniting American Families Act.

Perhaps the most reassuring speaker of the morning was Diego Sanchez, a man who works for Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) The first openly transgendered individual working on Capitol Hill, he talked about the concrete plans and strategies already underway for getting the votes to pass urgently needed legislation like ENDA, and gave us a truer view of the dedication which exists in Congress for passing this legislation. It was through speakers like Sanchez, Stonewall Democrats Executive Director Michael Mitchell and Brian Bond, the White House’s Deputy Director for the Office of Public Engagement, that we were able to discuss, first hand, our commitment to legislation such as UAFA, ENDA and ending DADT—and enlist that support from key players in Congress and the administration, who stressed to us their own commitment to seeing this legislation through.  

While we were there, we also met with Senator Gillibrand’s office regarding these critical issues, and measures such as Sen. Franken’s Student Non-Discrimination Act, which would establish a comprehensive federal prohibition on bullying in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, and forbid schools from discriminating against LGBT students or ignoring harassing behavior.

All in all, Kitty and I had a terrific morning discussing these issues and listening to people like DNC Chair Tim Kaine, Executive Director Jen O’Malley-Dillon and others reaffirm our Democratic Party’s commitment to our issues.

We were incredibly moved and inspired to have been chosen to represent all of our absolutely fantastic members and Stonewall Democrats of WNY on a national level, and we thank you all for allowing us the opportunity to participate in this event. With the passing of Dignity for All Students by the State Legislature, it has been a terrific week to motivate us to even further action on the work ahead.

Recent days have been dark ones for pro-equality citizens, as we experienced great disappointment with the recent failure of GENDA in the State Senate. And yet, when I listened to the others who attended the conference, and watched our state legislature vote to defend and protect the dignity of all our children, I felt that hope which I know will get us across the finish line. I know as an organization we have what it will take to ensure we are successful, at all levels. We will continue to work to elect and protect our pro-equality Democrats who have and will go on to do the work needed to advance our rights. The campaign season is already well underway, and I look forward to the reelection of our officials who champion our causes, and new ones like them in seats where their predecessors did not.

With the great leaders and true progressives we have in elected office and throughout our country in grassroots organizations such as our own, we have in place what it will take to pass ENDA, defeat DADT and DOMA, grant us Marriage Equality and pass GENDA in our state. I thank you, and look forward to continuing our great work together.

-Bryan Ball
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