Subscribe to Breaking NewsWithers: Kristen Gillibrand is new NYS Senator
Update (11:30 am): Read HRC’s positive statement on Gillibrand.
From a Kennedy to a Gillibrand. New York Gov. David Paterson will announce today that Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand will be Hillary Clinton’s replacement in the Senate.
Gillibrand represents the 20th District in New York (it runs from the mid-Hudson Valley to Lake Placid) and is a lion killer. In 2006, she ran against a four term Republican who had always swatted away the Democratic competition rather easily. However, Gillibrand raised tons of cash (who does that remind you of?) and put a spotlight on her opponent’s weaknesses.
But, as an upstate Democrat Gillibrand represents the conservative views of her voters and has been known to vote with Republicans (she came out against last year’s federal bailout). The National Rifle Association gave her its endorsement, which for liberal Democrats is like the seal of approval from Satan.
As for same-sex marriage, she’s against it. That really should not come as a surprise. Democrats who are pro gay marriage (publicly) are few; however, she gets credit for a civil union view I’m willing to bet her constituents are leery about.
“I think the way you win this issue is you focus on getting the rights and privileges protected throughout the entire country, and then you do the state-by-state advocacy for having the title.”
Will she push for that in her new gig is anyone’s guess, but at the very least New York has a new senator who understands why gay couples are seeking marriage rights.
UPDATE: Ahh the hazards of morning blogging when I’m late for work. Marriage is not the only gay issue out there. Compared to other Democratic representatives from New York, Gillibrand earned the lowest Human Rights Campaign score: a 80 out of 100 (B-?).
“According to the Human Rights Campaign, [Gillibrand] voted against the repealing of ‘Don’ Ask, Don’t Tell’ legislation, opposed legislation that would grant equal tax treatment for employer-provided health coverage for domestic partners, opposed legislation to grant same-sex partners of U.S. citizens and permanent residents the same immigration benefits of married couples and opposed legislation to permit state Medicaid programs to cover low-income, HIV-positive Americans before they develop AIDS.”
Mmmmm. Not a good sign at all. Very Republican-ish of her. But as mentioned before: she did not win in 2006 to represent the Upper Wset Side. Will she change her views now that she represents the whole state? That is the theory, but come on people. We are all adults. If these postions can win her a future election, she will hold to them.
UPDATE 2: Okay. Dismiss everything in this post. There is the Human Rights Campaign clarification of where Gillibrand stands. Then there is the unqualified support of the Empire State Pride Agenda.
“After talking to Kirsten Gillibrand, I am very happy to say that New York is poised to have its first U.S. Senator who supports marriage equality for same-sex couples,” said Alan Van Capelle, the executive director of Empire State Pride. “She also supports the full repeal of the federal DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) law, repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) and passage of legislation outlawing discrimination against transgender people. While we had a productive discussion about a whole range of LGBT concerns, I was particularly happy to hear where she stands on these issues.”
as a new yorker, i was dissapointed with the choice
He could have picked much better (even within upstate, as it appears he was trying to appeal… although Albany is “itsown state”) to work with gay rights
I guess she will just have to prove us wrong… lets hope thats the case
Hey, why not another segregationist on Capitol Hill, we got one in the White House.
I am confident that someday we too, in the GLBT community, will have our own Loving -v- Virginia ruling as well from the Supreme Court. Then anti-gay bigots will just have to bite their tongues and fill up their pathetic empty lives with some other hateful distraction.
So, in the final analysis, I wouldn’t count on spineless politicians, who have to answer to a country still dominated by homophobes and moral cowards, to do the right thing.
But history is on our side. I just wish, at age 58, I’d live long enough to see it happen.
~ Bud Evans
http://rainfish2000.blogspot.com
Will she change her views? She will if the residents of the sate push her to. Simply hold her feet to the fire NY gays. Make your voices heard. Be the loudest voice she hears.
If you are respectful, yet clear and firm, she will listen. Simply don’t let up.
Gov. Paterson, who appears to be a fairly intelligent man – has made an unfortunate poor decision here. Part of the blame goes to Ms. Kennedy as this may have been a secondary or last minute decision because of her own issues. We can be hopeful, but I agree with the poster who stated that if she has gotten this far with these views, she’s not likely to adjust course. To be honest, I wish NYC was it’s OWN state and not a part of the rest of NY state. Their views are worlds apatr and one keeps holding teh other back.
The Advocate reports in an interview with her yesterday, she is supportive of full marriage equality for gays and lesbians. What’s the real truth here?
Amazed and disappointed.
I understand the need to appoint a Senator to fill Hillary Clinton’s seat. That said, I am disappointed with Patterson’s choice of Kristen Gillibrand.
A lot of people in the gay community worked for Hillary Clinton’s campaigns. Clinton’s views regarding gay rights and the gay community were, for the most part, positive and inclusive. Gillibrand’s views about these matters are not.
I just don’t share similar views with Gillibrand as I did with Clinton. This holds true for many voters.
I would have rather Patterson pick someone who is more in sync with Hillary Clinton’s views. Those views are what put Clinton in office.
Patterson’s appointment makes me feel a little like my vote was stolen.
Hopefully a real Democrat can beat her in the primary come reelection time.
Brian,
Morning. The Advocate interview is Empire State Pride Agenda’s executive director Alan Van Capelle (one of the good guys by the way) talking. He says he spoke with Gillibrand last night and he is confident she will be good on gay issues.
Sincerely,
James
Yes, there does seem to be some contradiction here. The Advocate is reporting that she is pro-gay marriage (but an incrementalise, which appeals to the pragmatist in me), supports the repeal of DADT and DOMA. The truth may be somewhere in the middle.
I grew up in Albany and the very first Gay and Lesbian Community Center ever is on Hudson Street downtown. When I was a teenager there were at least 6 or 7 Gay bars and all my roomates worked at them.
I have always heard that she is totally pro-gay and feels that if calling total equal rights “marriage” will interfere with obtaining those rights then they can call it something else, pass legislation, and then go on to do whatever is needed after the laws recognize us equally.
I hate her gun advocacy but all these other a-holes sing the same song to get elected.
She is a fiscal centrist but not a social bigot.
Like the rest of these other new politicians I am going to give them a chance while I make plans. If they screw up I will have my own plan B in place. You just can’t trust anybody to do the right thing all the time. But you have to give them a chance.
I’ll hold my breath on this one. I don’t know what to believe any more. Politicians are notorious when it comes to flip-flopping, they all do it. Maybe this is political expediency on Gillibrand’s part to do an about turn on previous views she held on LGBT issues, I don’t know. All I can say is, trust no one in politics and NEVER let any politician take your vote for granted as they have for all these years, let them earn it first, either put up or shut up. Now if we had a Russ Feinstein,Dennis Kucinich or Ted Kennedy as Clinton’s replacement (I only wish), we wouldn’t be having this discussion or need to feel concerned. The fact is we don’t, we never had it in Clinton (she opposes marriage equality) and Gillibrand’s sudden change of heart is questionable. Is she genuine or is she just another political whore? I’ll hold my breath, wait and see just one more time. If she’s worth her salt, I want to hear her come out and state her beliefs on LGBT issues before the entire state, not hear it second rate from Empire State Pride Agenda before I feel comfortable with her selection as state senator. Its about time someone other than Russ, Dennis and Ted with guts and integrity stuck their necks out for a change. Lets see what she does.
This article is so confusing. First, James Withers writes that Kristen Gillibrand is against gay marriage and then later on it’s
‘hold the press’ she’s pro-gay because Empire State Pride confirms this. This is irresponsible reporting. Why not just delete the erroneous information first and report the real information?
Beau,
That story changed as the day moved on. Each time new information came in it was added.
Enjoy your week-end and thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
James
Hi James,
Thanks for explaining but if your story was consistently updated why didn’t you use the strikethrough on your word processor to show this inaccurate information was being taken out. Just a thought.
Had a great weekend. Thanx.