ENDORSEMENTS 2008

Manhattan's Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats (GLID), founded in 1974 as New York's first Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Democratic Club, is pleased to list its endorsements for the 2008 elections for U.S. House of Representatives, New York State Assembly, New York State Senate, and Civil Court, Supreme Court and Surrogate Court Judges in New York County.

In contested races, GLID endorsed Judge Milton Tingling for Surrogate, Sheldon Silver in the 64th Assembly District, and Martin Connor in the 25th Senate District. Incumbents were endorsed for every other legislative seat except for the 68th Assembly District, in which "No Endorsement" garnered 58% to Adam Clayton Powell IV's 42%.

ENDORSEMENTS 2008

SURROGATE COURT JUDGE – NEW YORK COUNTY
Milton Tingling

CIVIL COURT JUDGE - NEW YORK COUNTY
Michael Katz

SUPREME COURT JUDGE - NEW YORK COUNTY
Cynthia Kern

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY

64th
Sheldon Silver

65th
Micah Kellner

66th
Deborah Glick

67th
Linda Rosenthal

68th
No Endorsement

69th
Daniel O'Donnell

70th
Keith Wright

71st
Herman Farrell, Jr.

72nd
Adriano Espaillat

73rd
Jonathan Bing

74th
Brian Kavanagh

75th
Richard Gottfried

NEW YORK STATE SENATE

25th
Martin Connor

26th
Liz Krueger

28th
Jose M. Serrano

29th
Thomas Duane

30th
Bill Perkins

31st
Eric Schneiderman

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

8th
Jerrold Nadler

12th
Nydia Velazquez

14th
Carolyn Maloney

15th
Charles Rangel

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I hope your summer is going well! I wanted to advise you of some events coming up, including one where we will be voting to endorse in two judicial races coming up this fall.

On July 27th, our endorsed candidate Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver is holding a volunteer door-knocking/rallying event, see flyer here:
http://action.shellysilver.org/page/-/Silver_Sunday_Flyer.pdf

Also, on July 27th is GALDE's 18th Annual Dominican/Latino LGBT Picnic and Health Fair 12-7pm under the George Washington Bridge. Details below.

Tuesday, July 29th is a political club mixer from 6:30 - 9:30 PM at Maroons Restaurant, 244 W. 16th St. See below for details.

Tuesday, July 29th is also the night of a fundraiser for our endorsed candidate Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal from 6 - 8 PM at the rooftop garden of Deborah Sale & Ted Striggles, 151 W. 74th St., Apt. 9A (bn. Columbus & Amsterdam Aves.). Details below.

Tuesday August 5th is a fundraiser for endorsed candidate Representative Jerry Nadler from 6 - 8 PM at The Boat Basin Cafe in Riverside Park at West 79th Street. See below for details.

Thursday, August 7th, save the date and come help Melissa Sklarz and Corey Johnson on their way to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, 7 - 9 PM at XES Lounge, 157 W. 24th St. bn. 6/7 Aves. See below for details. We will also be voting for both Civil Court and Supreme Court. Information from the candidates will be available, though no speeches will be made that night. Please come by and vote - ballot box will be open from 7:30 - 9:00 PM - and support our own Melissa Sklarz and Corey Johnson!

Also, GLID signed onto a letter asking for the preservation of the repeal of the HIV travel ban in S2731. See text of the letter below.

See you all at the events coming up!

--Colin Casey

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The 18th Annual Dominican/Latino LGBT Picnic and Health Fair is an uplifting, informative and pleasurable event for its participants. It is an occasion to provide very important information and services to people in our community as well as an opportunity to empower and energize the Latino LGBT community. This year's Picnic and Health Fair will be held on Sunday, July 27 th, 2008 from 12-7pm in its usual scenic and beautiful location under the George Washington Bridge in upper Manhattan.

In addition to fun and food, music and cultural entertainment the Picnic and Health Fair has a serious function. Picnic attendees will get crucial information about HIV and STD prevention and testing, mental health services, smoking cessation pro grams, and other critical health related topics. It is also a way for us to show our strength, diversity and pride as members of the LGBT community.

_________________________________________________________________

Club Night

A mixer with members from Join Members of Chelsea Midtown Democratic Club, Chelsea Reform Democratic Club, Downtown Independent Democrats, Gay & Lesbian Independent Democrats, McManus Democratic Club, Stonewall Democrats of New York City, Village Independent Democrats and Village Reform Democratic Club.

July 29th, 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Maroons Restaurant, 244 W. 16th St., New York, NY 10011 near Seventh Ave.

_________________________________________________________________

SUMMERTIME SOCIAL

Tuesday, July 29, 2008
6-8 pm

To benefit the re-election campaign of Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, 67th AD

At the Rooftop Garden of Deborah Sale & Ted Striggles
151 West 74th Street, Apt. 9A
(Between Columbus & Amsterdam Aves.)

Donations will be accepted at the following levels:
$100 $250 $500 $1,000 $2,500 $3,800

For questions and to RSVP, contact David Lieberman at
(212) 228-7446 ext. 10, david@mcevoyandassociates.com

____________________________________________________________________

BOAT BASIN BASH WITH REP. JERRY NADLER

And
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer,
State Senators Thomas Duane & Eric Schneiderman,
Assemblymembers Richard Gottfried, Daniel O'Donnell & Linda Rosenthal,
Councilmember Gale Brewer

Tuesday August 5, 2008

6-8pm

The Boat Basin Cafe
Riverside Park at West 79th Street

Open Bar & Grill

Contribution Levels: $40, $100, $250, $500

Donate online via www.jerrynadler.com

Rsvp to Mary Bruch, mary@jerrynadler.com, 212.352.0370

__________________________________________________________________

An evening for Melissa & Corey
Hosted by renowned Chanteuse
And star of Transamerica, Bianca Leigh

XES Lounge; Thurs., Aug. 7th; 7PM – 9PM

Please come by XES Lounge (157 West 24th Street between 6/7 Avenues) to support community activists Melissa Sklarz and Corey Johnson as a send-off to the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Corey and Melissa were both appointed to the Rules Committee – so come by and tell them what you think the Rules of the Convention should be. Meliss a and Corey will take donations to support their trip on behalf of the community in traveling to Denver for the convention.

__________________________________________________________________

Dear Senator:

We, the undersigned organizations, write to voice our strong support for Section 305 of the Tom Lantos & Henry J. Hyde U.S. Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 (S. 2731). This important provision removes the statute which permanently bans people living with HIV/AIDS from entering the U.S. or obtaining legal permanent residency and restores authority to HHS to determine, based on sound medical and public health reasoning, whether HIV status should be grounds for inadmissibility. We strongly urge you to oppose any attempt to remove this critical provision from the legislation.

Congress first adopted this policy in 1987 through an amendment directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to add HIV to the list of medical conditions barring visitors and immigrants to the United States. In the early 1990's, when, after careful consideration of the public health consequences, HHS sought to loosen these restrictions, Congress reacted by codifying the ban in our nation's immigration laws. To this day, HIV is the only medical condition listed in the Immigration and Nationality Act as a basis for inadmissibility. By contrast, the admissibility status for any other disease is left to the discretion of the Secretary of Healt h and Human Services, based upon the risk the illness poses to the public health.

This draconian policy has negative consequences for our nation. Medical professionals, researchers, and other exceptionally talented people have been blocked from the United States. Since 1993, the International Conference on AIDS has not been held on U.S. soil due to this policy.

In addition, the United States is out of step with the international community and most other countries. The International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, produced jointly by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNAIDS, state that "there is no public health rationale for restricting liberty of movement or choice of residence on the grounds of HIV status." In June of this year, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for an end to discriminatory travel restrictions based on HIV status. The U.S. is one of only 12 countries –in addition to Armenia, Colombia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sudan, and Yemen – to have such harsh travel restrictions on people living with HIV/AIDS.

Removing this discriminatory ban from our nation's statutes is a crucial step towards strengthening our nation's leadership in the global fight against HIV/AIDS – an important goal of the PEPFAR program. We understand that the manager's amendment includes an offset for this provision ensuring that no additional costs will be associated with its inclusion in the legislation.

We strongly urge you to reject discrimination and stigma towards people living with HIV/AIDS by ensuring that this important provision survives Senate consideration of PEPFAR reauthorization fully intact.

Sincerely,

ACT UP, Philadelphia
AIDES (France)
AIDS Action
AIDS Foundation of Chicago
The AIDS Institute
California Council of Churches IMPACT
Gay Men's Health Crisis
Health GAP (Global Access Project), New York City
HIV Medicine Association
Human Rights Campaign
Hyacinth AIDS Foundation
Immigration Equality
International Rectal Microbicide Advocates
Kentucky Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Khush DC
Latino Commission on AIDS
National Association of People With AIDS
National Association of People With AIDS (Nepal)
National Immigrant Justice Center
National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild
New York AIDS Coalition
Open Society Policy Center
Pediatric AIDS Chicago Prevention Initiative
San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, Inc.
United Methodist Church, General Board of C

 

Introducing GLID's New President, Colin Casey

Colin Casey has been involved in New York politics for five years, beginning with an internship with Assembly Member Deborah Glick, the first openly lesbian elected to the New York State Assembly. It was there that he got his first taste of New York government, and how neighborhoods and communities shape State and City politics.

After his internship ended, he graduated from Wesleyan University and returned to New York City. Colin became involved in numerous community campaigns and ballot initiatives. He has worked throughout New York State on campaigns, focusing primarily on changing the long-held Republican controlled State Senate to Democratic control. This effort has taken him around the State, working first on the re-election campaign for New York State Senator Liz Krueger, then later for New York State Senator Craig Johnson, New York State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and most recently the special election in Watertown for victorious New York State Senator Darrel Aubertine. Colin is fully committed to working to see that Democrats control the New York State Senate - something that has not been done since 1965.

Continuing on his community and public service career, Colin is currently the Senior Legislative Aide for New State Senator Thomas K. Duane. He is the point person for community relations and intergovernmental affairs, with a focus on both Community Boards 4 and 5 in Manhattan. He also works closely with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, developing policies and making recommendations for legislation, programs, and services that benefit the community. Colin also works on lofts, SROs/hotels, the environment, energy, crime, uniformed services, and commercial development issues for the Senator.

Colin was asked to serve on, and was subsequently unanimously elected to, the GLID executive board in 2006. GLID overwhelmingly elected him as its President in January 2008. His positive attitude, refreshing enthusiasm, political skill and commitment make him an excellent leader for the democratic struggles ahead.

We welcome and congratulate him.