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07/07/2006
Video: NY Marriage Rally
For those of you who couldn't or just didn't attend yesterday's marriage rally in NYC's Sheridan Square (the site of the historic Stonewall riots), we have some highlights for you. Because we, my friends, care about this sort of thing.
Part 1:
***Our apologies to ALAN Van Capelle, who, no matter how many times we see and hear his name, we want to write it as ALEX.
Part 2:
*Also, apologies to James Esseks, whose name we simply misspelled in the above clip.
Part 3:
Part 4:
Part 5:
Part 6:
Part 7:
Part 8:
***In this last part, you may have heard Ann Northrop ask Sean Patrick Maloney, "Would you still go to court to oppose marriage, Sean?" and you may be confused as to why she asked this. Well, this clarification comes directly from Ann herself, reprinted with her permission:
I knew what I said to Sean would not be understood by most of the crowd, so I welcome the opportunity to clarify...and maybe spread the word.
Sean Patrick Maloney is running for Attorney General of the state of New York, in a field of five candidates where the frontrunner is Andrew Cuomo.
...
I was shocked to read some months ago that Sean was bragging about the fact that, were he to be Attorney General, he would do exactly what Elliot Spitzer did--go into court to defend the state's right to deny marriage to same-sex couples. I have since had several conversations with him about this. I have tried to point out to him that the Attorney General is elected independently by the people and does not do the bidding of the Governor. I have argued that the AG could just as easily decide that the state constitution's equal protection guarantees mandate equal access to marriage and that the AG could defend that position in court, plus which the actual marriage statute in NY is gender-neutral as written.
But Sean kept telling me that the AG must defend the state's position. (Not true. Robert Abrams, when he was the state AG, refused to defend the anti-sodomy law in court. The state can always hire another lawyer, and often does.) And worst of all, he told me that if he said publicly that as AG he would argue for marriage for same-sex couples, that would ruin his chances of election! I asked why the office would be worth anything if he couldn't take a more principled stand.
Sooooo....at the rally, I was amazed and offended that he was going to speak. And when he got up to speak, I, calmly but loudly, asked him "Would you still go into court to oppose marriage?" He said, no, but then didn't talk about it, so I think he was lying.
...
So there you have it; make of it what you will. We're contacting the Maloney camp to see if they'd like to make any further remarks, and we promise to keep you posted.
Also, apologies to those who spoke towards the end of the rally or those who we've neglected to include. While this writer's ambitions were fully charged, his battery was sadly not.
Empire State Pride Agenda
Gay Marriage "Inevitable": Rally in Sheridan Square [Village Voice]
