NY Blade For Bloomberg??

The New York Blade has already endorsed the main opponent of Bloomberg's chief ally in the City Council, so why on Earth would they think about endorsing the Mayor's re-election? It is a potential endorsement that Matt Arnold of the NY Liberal Examiner thinks is bizarre given Bloomberg's record on LGBT issues (before the beginning of election season of course). Arnold makes the case for the Blade to think again before sending that issue to print.

From The NY Liberal Examiner:

I’ve heard from a reliable source that the New York Blade, one of the city’s main LGBT newspapers, plans to endorse Mike Bloomberg for re-election. Which would be pretty bizarre, unless they’re wanting to narrow their readership to Log Cabin Republicans.

Mike Bloomberg could never be mistaken as an advocate for the LGBT community. When Gavin Newsom was marring gay couples in San Francisco in 2005, Bloomberg instead appealed against a court ruling that would have allowed gay marriage in New York City, and he won, which is why gay people are now forced to look to the State Legislature to make marriage equality happen. And when the city council passed the Equal Benefits Law, requiring that contractors who do work with the city avoid discrimination and offer gay employees the same work benefits offered to straight couples, Bloomberg again sued to prevent that from being enforced, and again he won.

So Bloomie has damaged the LGBT community in very concrete ways. It’s nice that Bloomberg has had an election year conversion and now thinks that the time is right to press for gay marriage (in 2005 he told a HRC fundraising audience that gays needed to be “patient.”) But switching over this year doesn’t undo the damage his administration has caused. Honestly I can’t imagine what the Blade would be thinking by endorsing him. Unless, perhaps, it has something to do with all that ad money Bloomie has been spending on the paper?

Advertising is an important factor in the health of newspapers these days, but I hope the Blade isn't susceptible to that type of influence over their editorial decisions. That would be a real shame given their usually stellar record.

NY Blade Goes For Yetta!

For some reason or another, I missed a very important piece of news on Friday. The New York Blade has already made an endorsement in the city elections this fall. Perhaps it was the desire to be at the end of the week (as I already am for the end of this one) but I'm glad a friend had forwarded it along. Yetta Kurland added the prominent GLBT paper to her list of endorsements in the race to unseat Speaker Christine Quinn. Yetta wants to change things up in the Council, and the Blade can clearly see it...and wants to see it happen.

From The NY Blade:

Kurland has been a civil rights attorney the past decade, which has given her experience empowering people. She is an impassioned teacher who has worked as an adjunct professor at New York University; she also opened an alternative language center, and she’s been the vice president of the Stonewall Democrats.

Currently, District 3 is represented by Christine Quinn, who is openly gay and is the City Council speaker. Quinn is likely to seek reelection, which is possible since the council, with the backing of Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg, extended term limits for this election (Kurland opposed the extension without a referendum).

“I have respect for Christine Quinn and honor her contributions to our community,” Kurland told us. “But it’s time for change in this city, and the term limits issue typified that. I think I offer a chance to restore the voice of our community to city government and to be able to stand up for those too often ignored by those in power.” We agree.

The Blade also notes her advocacy in education reform, GLBT issues, her career as a civil rights attorney and her passion to be a voice for the community. The paper is absolutely right in their assertion about Yetta. Currently District 3 is represented by the Speaker of the Council and while that may be considered a boon for her constituents, the damage she has done to the city by being at the Mayor's side in the last few years is too much to bear. That slush fund scandal didn't help matters either. Basically, when the powerful stop responding to the people that they are supposed to represent, it's time to make a change. Yetta Kurland is that change.