Nelson Rodriguez and Juan Rodriguez get married...

Photo: Juan Rodriguez, former president of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (Screen capture).

One of the least reported stories about the success of the marriage equality push in New York in 2011 was the role of Spanish language media and its positive impact on passage of the law. In particular, the decade long support expressed editorial pages of the most widely read Spanish-language newspaper in the city, El Diario La Prensa.

Last year, as the legislative battle heated up, El Diario's pro-marriage equality stand drew the wrath of homophobic Pentecostal preacher and Democratic New York State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., a leading opponent of the bill.

In April announced a boycott of the paper and said that the paper would be forced to drop its daily circulation by 20,000 copies.  He repeated the threat at several of the rallies he organized against marriage equality (video from one of the rallies here).

Editors stayed mum on the boycott most of the summer but a month after the law was signed into law, El Diario's Chief Editor and CEO Rossana Rosado appeared on NY1's "Pura Política" and spoke about the boycott's utter failure as well as the paper's longtime stand in support of marriage equality ("Was Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr.'s homophobic boycott against NY's 'El Diario La Prensa' effective?").

Interviewed by Juan Manuel Benitez, Rosado also revealed why the marriage equality issue hit so close to home and become such a personal issue for her (video of full interview here):

One of the first gay weddings will take place at my home. It will be between our friends Nelson and Juan who have spent 36 years together and who will get married and - at last! - they'll have the right to do it in this State.

This was also the year in which my daughter revealed to us that she is gay. She is 17 years old and her friends, her cousins, our family, everyone has given her their full support. There has not been a single negative reaction. I think that's the world we should pass on to our children.

The gay couple who planned to marry at Rosado's home were Nelson Rodriguez - who works for El Diario La Prensa - and Juan Rodriguez - who served as the former president of the Puerto Rican Independence Party of New York.

Rodriguez and Rodriguez were among the hundreds of couples who lined up outside City Hall in Manhattan on July 24th - the first day gay couples could register for a marriage license. Bryan Llenas, who was covering the story for Fox News Latino, happened to take this great picture of the happy couple. They would get married a month later on August 20th (photo used by permission from Bryan Llenas and Fox News Latino).

A month later, in October, Juan Rodriguez (on the right) would die from cancer.

On a special 'Top Stories of 2011' episode of "Pura Politica", host Juan Manuel Benitez took a look back at El Diario La Prensa's stand on marriage equality. He ended the segment by honoring Juan Rodriguez' life (turn on annotations for an English-language translation):

This, ladies and gentlemen, was one of the many reasons why El Diario's editors supported marriage equality - and one of the reasons why Senator Diaz wanted to boycott El Diario.

---

In a lighter vein, in the same show, political pundit Gersón Borrero was invited to discuss the stories of the year.  It might be a tad politically incorrect, but here was his take on Senator Diaz' opposition to marriage equality.

OMG.

Borrero, a former editor at El Diario, has been calling Diaz "Lucifer" for years. Diaz, to this date and to the Senator's credit, Diaz still takes his calls.

Was Reverend Ruben Diaz Sr.'s homophobic boycott against NY's 'El Diario La Prensa' effective?

Photo: El Diario La Prensa CEO and Chief Editor Rossana Rosado on New York 1 en Español's "Pura Politica".

I've been on such a light blogging schedule as of late that I haven't even written about passage of the marriage equality law in New York State last month or the legal marriages between same-sex couples that began last week. I have no doubt, though, that readers of this blog caught wind of the developments elsewhere.

But there remain some interesting angles that haven't been covered or have gone under-reported in English language media and the following story is one of them.

Last April, as foes of marriage equality in New York ramped up efforts to convince state legislators not to bring a marriage equality bill up for a debate, news filtered out that New York State Senator and Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr. (D-Bronx) would be headlining a rally in his home borough in opposition of the bill. The rally, which I attended on May 15th, wasn't the first or last rally Diaz would lead on the issue, but something new emerged: A call to boycott the leading Spanish language newspaper in New York City, El Diario La Prensa, over their long-standing editorial support for marriage equality.

News of the boycott first surfaced in a Spanish-language Dominican Republic newspaper in which the Reverend promised that it would lead to a single-day newspaper stand sale drop o 20,000 copies.  Here is what Diaz said about the boycott at the Bronx rally...

Diaz implied to the crowd that it was God who ordered the boycott (at the :54 second mark):

Our God has indicated to me to ask you to send a message to El Diario La Prensa. The fifty cents that you spend in buying the newspaper - with those fifty cents you are contributing to the promotion and the promulgation of marriage between a man with a man and a woman with a woman and abortion. And you are a son of God... You are a daughter of God... You are child of God.  Starting tomorrow Monday, I am calling on all of you not to dare give fifty more cents to El Diario La Prensa. Kick them out! It's out they go! Out! Out! Out!

I must be jaded and gotten used to all the other homophobic religious nuttery that took place that day because the call to censure the press in the name of God was one of the most chilling things I heard on that day. Days earlier, Diaz - true to his disregard of the separation of church and state -  posted a diatribe against El Diario on his Senate website in which he directly quoted the Bible ("He who is not with us, is against us - Luke 9:50"). On May 28th, Diaz also appeared on New York 1 en Español's weekly political show "Pura Política" defending his attack on freedom of expression to the show's host Juan Manuel Benitez (at the 4:23 minute mark):

JUAN MANUEL BENITEZ: This freedom of expression, to say what you want to say, you don't extend it to El Diario La Prensa? You've been organizing a boycott based on the editorial content of El Diario La Prensa because they back same-sex marriage...
SEN. RUBEN DIAZ, SR.: And abortion, and abortion, because...
JMB: So you want to silence El Diario La Prensa's freedom of expression.
DIAZ: No, I want to be granted equality. I want to be granted equality.
JMB: And what is equality. Which is the equality.
DIAZ.: Equality means that El Diario La Prensa doesn't cover any of our activities. They don't cover our children's parades...
JMB: They did cover your rally from a couple of weeks back...
DIAZ: Nooooo, oh, man, it was just miniscule coverage. They don't cover the Day of the Pastor, they don't cover religious activities, they don't cover a thing. They only cover...
JMB: Perhaps they only cover what they consider to be newsworthy...
DIAZ: So us... the Evangelical people don't have the right... We don't have to spend fifty cents to buy it. That doesn't... that doesn't... we are in America!
JMB: You are taking away their freedom of expression.
DIAZ: Ah! So is it an attack... for... for... for us to inhibit our right to express our position. Give me equality, and let's say we'll be on even keel. I'm not saying 'Do not write about that'. What I'm saying is: Why is it that you write only about that side... and don't write about this side. Journalism should be impartial. Which is what I just told you about Blabbeando.

Yes, Diaz plugged this blog as an example of the 'fair and balanced' coverage he should get at El Diario. Sigh.

Diaz, of course, lost big time when it came to blocking the recognition of marriage equality in New York State.  Question is, having pulled out all his forces to hurt the sales of El Diario La Prensa, did his supposedly God-mandated boycott work?

For an answer let's go back to Friday's edition of "Pura Politica" in which El Diario La Prensa's long-time Chief Operating Officer and Editor Rossana Rosado sat down to publicly address the issue for the first time. I have a feeling you might be surprised...

In the clip Rosado discusses the Diaz boycott somewhat reluctantly and seemingly hesitant to give it more publicity than it's worth. She explains why they chose not to address it directly initially and also reveals, for the first time in a public venue, why passage of the marriage equality law in New York State hit so close to home. Here is the full transcript (I've highlighted key passages):

JUAN MANUEL BENITEZ: An elderly couple made history on Sunday when they became New York City's first gay marriage. Phyllis Siegel, a 77 year old retired librarian, and her wife Connie Kopelov, an 84 year old retired activist and labor leader, sealed their 23-year old relationship by getting married - legally. Hundreds of same-sex couples did the same and have continued doing so all week long. This historic event and the debate that preceded and led to it was followed closely by the oldest Spanish-language publication in the city, EL DIARIO LA PRENSA. With us, today, is their Editor and Executive Director ROSSANA ROSADO, many thanks for being with us [RS: Thank you for the invitation]. ROSSANA, why this issue and the way it was covered by EL DIARIO and, in particular - to get started - how did you experience the news at EL DIARIO LA PRENSA once it became a reality on Sunday...

RS: It's not the first time. People seemed to take it as something unique but at EL DIARIO we have spent years backing gay marriage. It wasn't something new. We have always been in favor of civil rights - and that aspect of the debate - and I think it became news because EL DIARIO's stand became so widely known. But we - as Latinos and New Yorkers - have always have always backed marriage rights for gays.

JMB: But you must know that there is the perception - in this country and in this city - that the Hispanic community is very conservative, very religious, and is not in favor of homosexual marriage. How is the experience at an institution such as EL DIARIO LA PRENSA - which has existed for almost a century - that goes against the grain of what people think the Hispanic community is like.

RR: Well, nevertheless, we have always been a very inclusive community. If someone says that they are against gay marriage based on their religious beliefs they more than likely have a gay son, brother or cousin who opposes [their view]. In other words, as a community we are a little more complex than that. Conservative? Perhaps. But we always have... - for example - the gays have always marched at at the Puerto Rican Parade. We never had the issues, for example, that have existed with the St. Patrick's Parade. And... look, we have never seen any backlash from our readers or public as a reaction to our editorial position or the support we gave it on this occasion.

JMB: And what many people have been asking: Did you sit down at the editorial room in EL DIARIO LA PRENSA and said "We'll go along... we will choose this path... we will support homosexual marriage openly and will we do it in such and such a way"? In other words, was there such a meeting? Was it decided that this would be the editorial line?

RR: Well, as I said, our editorial line isn't something new. We have always had it. I believe our editorial line is consistent with our support for civil rights, immigration rights, social justice, so it's part of our trajectory of fighting for rights we believe to be civil rights. So it's not only a religious debate. If one believes certain rights are civil rights, how can you be opposed to marriage rights... that doesn't make sense. And for me, this is consistent with the trajectory we have set; what could be described as a progressive policy.

JMB: Sunday, June 26th, was a very special day for you professionally and personally. Two days earlier, Governor Cuomo had signed the marriage equality law for which your newspaper fought so hard and in an editorial you titled "Because in the End, It's Love that Counts", you finally broke your silence and wrote, in part: "This newspaper was the target of a boycott based on our support for what we consider to be an issue of civil rights, but the end result of the matter were the calls of support from our family and activists throughout the tri-state area; many of them don't know how to speak or read Spanish and, despite this, they wanted to subscribe to EL DIARIO to insure and protect our editorial independence."
As a business woman, separate from your role as a journalist, what was your experience with this boycott over the editorial stand in favor of gay marriage?

RR: EL DIARIO is what we call in English a 'single-copy' newspaper: It's a newspaper that is sold every day - during ninety-eight years - every day, on the newspaper stand. In other words, we do not offer a subscription rate. So for me it's like a daily survey, whether people will buy it or won't buy it. Therefore we didn't feel the boycott in an economic way. Nevertheless, those who called for a boycott brought a lot of attention to EL DIARIO and, as a result, we seem to have new fans who didn't know us before - who also thought it was something new, that it was a novelty - our support for gay marriage - which it wasn't. And it was also an overwhelming reaction, for them to call us and say 'We don't read in Spanish but we want to subscribe so this boycott won't have an impact on EL DIARIO or do any damage to EL DIARIO; so we gained - through Facebook and Twitter - we gained more.

JMB: But before you received the show of support, I imagine you as a business woman, as the leader of an organization that provides employment to many families, deep inside you must have been worried. You might have said 'Well, we might have to rethink this issue, this stand, this editorial line...'

RR: Neither I nor Erica Gonzalez who is the Editor... we never worried about an economic impact or... we understood and always felt we were on the right side and... I never worried at any moment. What could they do? Stop buying EL DIARIO? We cannot do the work we do - in terms of our causes and the support we provide - we cannot do it on the basis of public surveys. We cannot do it on the basis of threats or the fear-mongering of losing our advertisers. We wouldn't do it on other issues and we won't do it for this issue. So we didn't feel fear, we just said "OK, let's see what happens...'. The strategy was to ignore it and, if there was an impact, to address it later. And there wasn't.

JMB: Because we haven't yet spoken about the person who called the boycott, but he was here a few weeks ago and this is what he said...

NYS SENATOR RUBEN DIAZ, SR.: I want them to grant me equality...
JMB: And what is equality; which equality...
RD.: Equality means that EL DIARIO LA PRENSA doesn't cover any of our activities. They don't cover our children's parades...
JMB: They did cover your rally from a couple of weeks back...
RD: Nooooo, oh, man, it was just miniscule coverage. They don't cover the Day of the Pastor, they don't cover religious activities, they don't cover a thing. They only cover...JMB: Perhaps they only cover what they consider to be newsworthy...RD.: So us... the Evangelical people don't have the right... We don't have to spend fifty cents to buy it. That doesn't... that doesn't... we are in America!
JMB: You are taking away their freedom of expression.RD: Ah! So is it an attack... for... for... for us to inhibit our right to express our position. Give me equality, and let's say we'll be on even keel. I'm not saying 'Do not write about that'. What I'm saying is: Why is it that you write only about that side... and don't write about this side.

JMB: Your reaction...

RR: OK, look. There are people in our community who not only dress like a cowboy but also act as such. They want everybody to do whatever they want them to do. They want to impose their morals. In Puerto Rico we say they preach morality in their underwear, in other words, they want to preach morality. I'll say that if that religious sector would like to 'protect marriage' why don't they attack divorce - because many of them are divorced. I got married 21 years ago, been with the same man, I've been loyal, and I'm in love with him and I believe in marriage. So I'm not about to deny someone else the right to marry. If they want to use the power of their religious congregations for the public well-being why won't they attack absent parents, those who do not pay child support; why won't they attack domestic violence. Why won't they use their alleged power to boycott those organizations, city and state agencies, or corporations that do so much damage to our families. Why won't they use that energy in that way. I believe that we - both in our community and our newspaper - we should celebrate love in all its forms.

JMB: With that response, it's obvious that you feel personally affected. As we said earlier, all these few weeks have also marked a very special moment for you...

RR: Yup. Because one of the first gay weddings will take place at my home... it will be between our friends Nelson and Juan who have spent 36 years together and who will get married - at last! - they'll have the right to do it in this state. We - my husband and I - are very happy that it will happen at our home.... and also because this year was the year in which my daughter revealed to us that she is gay - and she is 17 years of age. And for her and her generation - her friends, her cousins, our family - everyone has given her their full support. There has not been a single negative reaction. I think that's... that's the world we should pass on to our children so that they won't have to suffer, for example, through what Juan and Nelson or my uncles or my relatives went through.

[COMMERCIAL]

JMB: New York became the 6th state in the country to allow these unions. One thing is certain, these marriages do not enjoy legal recognition on the national level since they are not recognized by the federal government. Why? It's due on a law signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996 named "The Defense of Marriage Act". It defines marriage as the exclusive union between a man and a woman and allows the states to deny the legal recognition of homosexual unions if they wish to do so. Thanks to this law many bi-national marriages are in danger since foreigners married to U.S. citizens do not enjoy immigration benefits. President Barack Obama thinks this law is unconstitutional and has asked his team to stop defending it in the courts. On his part, the general attorney of the State of New York, Eric Schneiderman filed a petition of unconstitutionality this week which might provoke a chain-reaction leading to the law's revocation. ROSSANA, do you think this will take place soon. In other words, New York is the 6th state and not the 1st, but perhaps it has more visibility than perhaps all the other states that allow homosexual marriage in the country. Do you think there'll be a chain-reaction and that a great majority of the states will slowly begin to recognize homosexual marriages?

RR: Well, I think New York is decisive due to its size and, of course, because we as New Yorkers continue to believe we are the center of the world [laughs]. But New York does have a large representation of all groups and all ideologies so it does have a larger impact, particularly on what happens in Washington. So, yes, the fact that it happened in New York, the fact that we have people like Schneiderman and Cuomo who have [political] aspirations beyond New York is important as well and I believe that, yes, we will see it. And I hope so because I want to stop dealing with this issue and deal with others I believe are much more important in terms of day to day life: The economy, job creation and other issues that need to be resolved.

JMB: Because, on a deeper level, do you think it will take a long time for the community in general to get used to other family models? Because defenders of traditional marriage say that they defend the institution of marriage as that of a father, a mother and their children - but when it comes to the truth that model doesn't...

RR ...it's that it's been a long time since that model actually existed. I believe the figure is that more than 60% of today's families in the United States are not like that traditional family. My children - my daughter is 17 years old, my son is 20 years old - and from the time they were little, they were always in the minority as being from a family that had a father and a mother, in other words, a nuclear family. The topic of conversation during the school lunches was divorces, it was what other children did when they went to visit their [separated] parents. That [family] structure had already changed a decade ago, in other words, more than a decade ago. Sometimes when these debates come to the surface that's the focus and the people who talk about it do it as if this was something new. But take a look at research and the statistics: The concept of "family" already changed years ago. And what about children raised by grandparents? Extended families? We are in an era in which that nucleus already changed a long time ago.

In other words, just as Reverend Diaz' decades-long opposition to marriage equality in New York led to ultimate failure, his late-game call to boycott El Diario also seems to have failed miserably as well.  Good job, Reverend Diaz! Please keep up on riling against El Diario since it worked so well for them!

And, by the way, if you've read this far, I also urge you to read Rossana Rosado's full OpEd piece on this issue by clicking here.

NYS Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., Joe.My.God., The Village Voice, El Diario La Prensa, oh my...

 

It's been a grey, cold, rainy Spring day here in New York but an interesting exchange has been taking place between New York State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. and the venerable newsweekly The Village Voice over a post on Joe.My.God.

It all began yesterday when a reader of Joe.My.God. sent translated information from a Dominican Republic newspaper in which the State Senator announced an anti-marriage equality march and rally to take place in the Bronx on May 15th, 2011.  The reader's statement as posted on Joe's blog:

Radio Vision Cristiana, a New Jersey-based Spanish-language AM radio station that broadcasts religious programming, is planning a huge anti-gay march in New York City on May 15, 2011. It will be held in the Bronx (starting at noon the participants will march from 149th Street and Third avenue to [161st] street in the Bronx). The radio station, as well as the main organizer of the event, State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. are urging all Hispanics and especially evangelicals to oppose the possible legalization of same-sex marriages in New York State. Ruben Diaz is urging the participants "to paralyze all traffic in the Bronx" on that day. Organizers of the event expect up to 30,000 people to show up. A similar rally was held in 2009, it attracted about 20,000 people and took many city officials by surprise. 

In the original Spanish-language article, the Senator also riles against the largest Spanish-language newspaper in the city, El Diario La Prensa, and their longstanding editorial support for marriage equality and says he will launch a boycott of the newspaper.  From the article:

"On that day El Diario La Prensa will see a 20,000 issue drop in sales and, in this way, it will see that the Hispanic community in this city opposes marriage between people of the same sex and abortion," said Ruben Diaz.

In speaking against a woman's right to choose, the paper also says that the Senator argued that of 100 women who give birth, 48 "dump them into the trash" implying that the abortion rate in this country is 48% (on January 10th, the New York Times reported that even at it's peak in 1981, annual abortion rates never have reached past 2.9% of pregnancies).

Village Voice reporter Steven Thrasher, who wrote an amazing cover story profile of out soldier Dan Choi back in October, quickly picked up on Joe's post at the Voice's blog Runnin' Scared noting that May 15th, the planned rally date, was also the planned date for the annual AIDS Walk organized by GMHC.

That post, as the one on Joe.My.God., elicited some angry reactions including someone who hoped Diaz would "shortly die of natural causes".  That led others to write similar comments including some anonymous fucktard named "Wayne" to go a step further and write "...as you wish, Mr. Diaz... I can arrange your final resting place in a local dump."

Today, Senator Diaz responded on his website in a press statement titled "An Open Letter to the Editors of The Village Voice".  An excerpt

When I read the comments posted online that followed your article, I considered that you or your editors have espoused an "at all costs" approach to achieving your goal of passing a gay marriage bill. One reader, Wayne writes: "....as you wish, Mr Diaz.....I can arrange your final resting place in a local dump."

Would the authors and editors at the Village Voice have been so quick to tolerate any comments hoping for the demise or imminent death of one of their favorite political leaders? Or perhaps their purpose really was to draw out and encourage criminal acts by your readers....

It's so sad to see people in journalism abuse their positions, but it's outrageous to see how the editors of the Village Voice use their editorial discretion to facilitate and encourage homicide.

Dramatic much? Anonymous online trolling is what defines current online "debates" nowadays and there is no doubt in my mind that the Senator knows this.  That doesn't mean that he isn't smart enough to use it to his advantage and pretend he is a victim - particularly for someone who welcomes any press he can get.  In any case, Tony Ortega, editor of the Village Voice, responded today as well:

As you noticed, in a recent update to this blog by Steven Thrasher on how irrelevant you are becoming in New York's inexorable move to making marriage equality a reality in this state, I put a rather salacious headline on the piece: "Ruben Diaz, Sr.: Gay Marriage Over My Dead Body."

I wrote that headline in an attempt not only to get attention to Thrasher's reasoned, well-reported post, but also to characterize just how out of step with reality your opposition to gay marriage has become in a city where the national movement for gay rights began.

I did not, however, actually wish you dead, and if some of our commenters were similarly hyperbolic in their denunciations of you, I consider that unfortunate.

No, there certainly is no desire on my part or on the part of the Voice to hope for your early demise. In fact, you provide for us a valuable service, reminding us of how backward and mean-spirited many people in this country, and even many people in this otherwise enlightened city, are about human rights and basic human dignity.

The Voice in general, and Steven Thrasher in particular, has provided example after example of how loving, committed couples are denied the most basic of human rights because of bizarre and hate-filled screeds by the shortsighted emotional midgets of this country, of which you make a most convenient and visible example.

For that reason, if for no other, we want you to be around after the more responsible members of our political leadership adopt gay marriage, and for a long, long time after that.

So that we may never forget.

Tony, I believe, gets things only half-right.

There are websites and blogs that choose to moderate comments, like this one.  There are websites and blogs that choose not to do so, and I respect that as well. But I don't think Diaz ever referred to the Voice's blog post title.  Instead, I believe he was specifically responding to the comments left on the post and deliberately picking up on the 'local dump' post.

Simply stating, as Ortega did, that "if some of our commenters were similarly hyperbolic in their denunciations of you, I consider that unfortunate" (italics mine) is sadly akin to every time a homophobic personality apologizes for some homophobic outburst by qualifying the statement with "if anyone was offended by...".

As one of the largest-read gay blogs in the country, and as a blog that does not moderate comments, I am well-aware of the flack that Joe Jervis has gotten as the author of Joe.My.Blog. and the way he has been unfairly blamed for the thoughts of his readers.  Kudos, then, to Joe for following up on the story today and including the following statement:

Please do not leave comments making even the most idle of threats of physical harm or property damage against any persons or places. Longtime readers may recall that in late 2009, anti-gay and Christianist websites launched a campaign against JMG, claiming that readers were making "terrorist threats" against supporters of Proposition 8. Please contact me via email if you see any threats or calls to violence and I will dispatch them at once. Our enemies are reading every word you write.

Here is where it gets mightily dispiriting.  Even though Diaz is attacking 'teh geyz', a woman's right to choose and one of the major Latino media supporters of marriage equality in the United States, a large part of the angry visceral queer reaction to Diaz' statements doesn't really call for his head to roll --- but it certainly brings to mind the xenophobic Tea Party.

A [stomach-churning] sampling from responses on Joe's post asking for a moderate reaction:

• I wish these people would go back to their 3rd world "democracies" where they can practice their vile discrimination.
• Hispanics arriving on out of state church buses?....Take pictures of the buses and their affiliations, take pictures of the bussed in participants, and someone please clue in INS, just in case there are some "undocumented" protesters.
• I agree with some of our other posters concerning full documentation of all the protesters being bussed in to participate in this event, regardless of any racial or nationalist agendas.  If your cause is so weak that any warm body will do, it is more than probable that some of these people might have documentation issues which need addressing.

The 'funny' thing is that Senator Diaz and a large number of his followers were born in Puerto Rico and, as such, have always been U.S. citizens.

There are a number of folk commenting on Joe's site who try to counter the xenophobia but, more often than not, they get attacked themselves as well.

The 'sad' thing is that it doesn't really surprise me because it's nothing new.  What amazes me is their mindless willingness to shoot themselves in the foot by alienating immigrant and non-immigrant Latinos who might support marriage equality.

I'll have some additional thoughts on this in my next post.

UPDATES:

• The Senator has a follow-up response he has titled "Protecting Marriage".
• The Voice follows up. Ruben Diaz, Jr., the Senator's son and current Bronx Borough President, will not be participating in his father's rally.
• Some have said that the fact that the march and rally has been scheduled on May 15th might have to do with the fact that it would fall on the same date as the AIDS Walk in Manhattan. Bob Kappstatter at the New York Daily News says there might be another reason: It's also the same date as the Bronx Puerto Rican Day Parade, which ends just six blocks away from the anti-gay rally.

PREVIOUSLY:

• VIDEO: Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr.: There cannot be separation of Church and State because "I am the church and I am the State".
• Passion of the Christ, Pt. II: Cristiada (April 12, 2011)
• A shout-out from Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. (January 8, 2011)
• Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr.'s response to the anti-gay attacks in the Bronx (Oct. 13, 2010)
• Rosie Perez has a message for Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. (Sept. 30, 2010)
• Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. admits the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually allow marriage equality --- as a sign of The End of Days (Aug. 8, 2010)
• Ruben Diaz, Jr. on his father's homophobia (July 18, 2010)
• An anti-gay rally in New York City (May18, 2010)

NYS primary elections: Vote for Francisco Moya and Charlie Ramos

Today is primary election day in New York. I'm keeping my eye on a couple of races and would like to ask readers in those districts to vote for two specific candidates.

Francisco Moya vs. Hiram Monserrate: The first race is in the 39th State Assembly District in Queens which is an open seat. It also happens to be the district in which I live.

Long-time community advocate Francisco Moya has ran for political office before and has never been elected. I predict he will easily win the primary in large part because he's got the backing of several labor unions, a number of the leading politicians in the city and the Queens Democratic Party.

Moya also has the backing of the leading LGBT-rights organization in the state, the Empire State Pride Agenda, potential future state governor Andrew Cuomo, and - in what is a heavily Latino district - the endorsement of the largest Spanish-language newspaper in the city, El Diario La Prensa.

Funny thing about that El Diario endorsement: It doesn't mention a word about his lead rival.

That would be disgraced former Councilmember and State Senator Hiram Monserrate, who was ousted of the State Senate after being convicted of assaulting his girlfriend.  In his brief run as a state senator, he also threw the legislature into disarray when he wavered on siding with Republicans on grabbing control from Democrats.  Oh, and after years of saying he was in favor of marriage equality for same-sex couples, when it actually came to delivering, he voted against them.

Did I mention I considered Hiram to be a friend at one time? Heck, I took him to his first gay bar!

The one caveat about Moya? He is deep, deep, DEEP into Queens Democratic Party machine politics (heck, he once worked for Queens Dem Party leader and US Congressman Joseph Crowley) and I've always been about independent politics.  There's no doubt Francisco will just give his stamp of approval on every single thing Crowley sends down to him. And that's not necessarily a good thing.

On the other hand, it's Hiram he is running against. Today: Vote Francisco Moya.

If that sounded like a lukewarm endorsement, the next one won't...



Charlie Ramos vs. Ruben Diaz, Sr.: In what El Diario La Prensa has called a "David and Goliath" race, community leader Carlos "Charlie" Ramos is challenging homophobic state senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. in the Bronx's 32nd Senate District. Ramos, who has led a shoe-string campaign to unseat one of the worst homophobic politicians in the city.

The extent to which Diaz has amassed outside national funding from anti-gay and "Tea Party" sources while failing to raise funds from constituents speaks to his lack of support from local voters.

Unfortunately, people in his district vote at one of the lowest rates in the city and this has always worked in his favor. He has always been able to motivate his blind followers on social issues while those who might vote against him usually stay home and let him get away with it.

I'll probably have more to say about this in the future, particularly if Ramos fails at his bid.  But, if you read this and live in the Bronx, please make an effort to cast your vote for Charlie Ramos.  If you do, it will stun the political world and relegate Diaz, Sr. to the history books. It will also get you a humbler Senator who will respond to the community's needs and not his own. At least not the needs of a Senator who believes he might as well cave in because the end of days are near...



Please vote for Charlie Ramos!

NY's largest Spanish-language newspaper calls for marriage equality once again

On November 17th, 2008, in the wake of passage of Prop. 8 in California, the largest Spanish-language newspaper in New York finally stepped off the fence and unequivocally stood for marriage equality ("A stand for same-sex marriage").

At the time, I noted the surprisingly strong stance that they took against homophobic Democratic Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., and his prolonged efforts to deny rights to same-sex couples living in New York State.

Three weeks later, on December 5th, the paper once again took a dig at the Senator's stance on marriage rights while saluting the possibility of increased Latino representation in the state legislature ("Representation that counts").

Now, five months later - and two days before last Monday's Prop. 8 ruling in California - the paper took a third stand for marriage equality in New York State which also alludes to Diaz, Sr., without calling him by name ("A Shameful Denial of Rights"). I am taking the liberty of publishing it here in full.

When a husband or wife is hospitalized, a spouse deserves the right to be informed of their health status and be consulted for any life or death decisions. Spouses also have the legal right to have a say about shared property, the well being of their children and a host of other issues critical to their lives together.

These are only a few of the legal rights that heterosexual, married couples benefit from and take for granted, But gay and lesbian couples –who also share their lives and raise families together – are denied these fundamental legal protections.

A legal marriage is not merely symbolic. There are 1,138 rights and responsibilities that are given to married couples by the federal government, according to the Empire State Pride Agenda. Another 1,324 rights and responsibilities come from New York State government—but these rights come only with a legally-sanctioned marriage license.

To deny same sex couples the right to get married, is to deny them basic legal rights.

A legal marriage is not the same thing as a religious union. The right to a legal marriage by same sex couples does not infringe on any religious freedoms. No religion or congregation need recognize or consecrate a union that runs against their beliefs. No customs or religious practices need change. None.

Yet, conservative religious and political groups continue to stoke irrational fears. Legislation that would allow same-sex marriage is caught up in politics in Albany, where some legislators are worried about political blowback for supporting this measure.

We call on these legislators to muster the courage to do the right thing. New York needs a fair law to protect same sex couples and families that have been shamefully marginalized for far too long.

I want to publicly thank El Diario La Prensa for their invigorated leadership on standing for what is right and on challenging the wrongful view that Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. speaks for the Latino community.

Ecuador: President Rafael Correa vows to fight homophobia in wake of NYC murder

In a week that saw the remains of José Osvaldo Sucuzhañay flown from the United States to Ecuador to be buried near his family yesterday, Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa (right) has vowed to fight against homophobia and xenophobia in his country and elsewhere.

From a Spanish-language article by AFP, an excerpt of which I have translated to English:

The Ecuadorean immigrant José Sucuzhañay, of 31 years of age, was "vilely assassinated for xenophobic reasons, for homophobia; They mistook him for a homosexual and was with his brother" as they walked in Brooklyn, New York, said Correa.

"We will fight together ... to forever uproot these aberrations of certain maladjusted [individuals], uproot them from the face of the earth, from humanity: Xenophobia, homophobia and all kinds of discrimination, all kinds of violence," he said.

Sucuzhañay and his brother Romel were attacked in the early morning of December 7th by what are described as three black men who wielded a bat. While Romel was able to escape without serious injury, José passed away on December 12th after spending days in a coma at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens.

President Correa's comments were similar to those made yesterday by another of the Sucuzhañay brothers during José's burial in Cuenca, Ecuador. From The Associated Press:

"My heart is broken and so is that of all my family," his brother German said during a funeral Mass in the cathedral of the southern town of Cuenca. Sucuzhanay's coffin was scattered with roses and covered with the Ecuadorean flag.

"The brutal killing of my brother Osvaldo is the result of xenophobia, of homophobia and racism that our compatriots are experiencing in these times," he said, calling on Ecuador's government to demand that U.S. authorities solve the crime.

Interestingly it was yet another Sucuzhañay brother who lives in New York that had previously denied that any anti-gay slurs had been shouted during the attack as police reports and most accounts picked up by media. From a December 12th article in El Diario La Prensa:

[Diego] Sucuzhañay denied the versions [of events] given by authorities that his brothers Romel and José Osvaldo were shouted anti-gay phrases.

"My brother Romel told me that they shouted insults against Latinos, that they shouted 'Hispanics, sons of bitches,' but not anti-gay insults."

The apparent unease in calling the attack a homophobic one also was reflected by calls for action from certain Latino leaders and Ecuadorean community organizations in New York who highlighted the xenophobic aspect of insults that were allegedly shouted during the attack but never made any mention that there might have been anti-gay slurs shouted as well.

President Correa might have chosen the same route but he seems to understand that the fact that the Sucuzhañay brothers were attacked because a few guys thought they were a gay couple is as troubling as the fact that they were attacked because they were Latinos. Not surprising, then, that he is one of the most progressive Latin American presidents on LGBT issues.

Previously:

re: José Sucuzhañay:

• Photos: José Sucuzhañay vigil in Brooklyn (Dec. 15, 2008)
  
• Human Rights Campaign stands up for straight immigrant in gay bashing (Dec. 14, 2008)
  
• José O. Sucuzhañay has passed away (Dec. 14, 2008)
  
• Two Sunday vigils in response to Buswick hate crime (Dec. 11, 2008)
• Bushwick attack: Were anti-gay slurs shouted by assailants? Does it make it less of a heinous crime if the answer is 'no'? (Dec. 11, 2008)
• More on Bushwick attack against Ecuadorean brothers (Dec. 8, 2008)
• Breaking: Anti-gay, anti-Latino slurs shouted at Ecuadorean men during beating in Brooklyn (Dec. 8, 2008)

re: President Rafael Correa

• New constitution grants gays civil union rights, bans adoption rights (Sept. 29, 2008)
• President Correa falls into political trap, accedes to right wing demands, says gay couples deserve some rights (April 7, 2008)
• President Correa on same-sex marriage, abortion and including 'God' in the constitution (March 31, 2008)
• A push to eliminate constitutional protections for gays and lesbians (March 26, 2008)
• Defense Minister resigns in midst of a 'gays in the military' controversy (Sept. 6, 2007)

El Diario La Prensa on 'Gang of Three' deal, NYS same-sex marriage bill

For the second time in less than a month, El Diario La Prensa, New York City's largest Spanish-language newspaper, has come out inf favor of a bill granting same-sex couples the right to marry.

In "Representation that Counts" the paper's editors warily welcome the power-sharing deal that three dissident Democratic State Senators grabbed yesterday as a condition of getting back into the Democratic fold.

On the issue of Latino empowerment, [Ruben] Diaz and [Pedro] Espada Jr. both complained, and rightfully so, about the under-representation of Hispanics in government. They may have succeeded in beginning to turn a page. And they have an opportunity here to build momentum not only for increasing representation, and the quality of it, but ensuring that it yields effective policies and resources for families struggling to get by every day.

But they also take exception on one specific issue: Same-sex marriage.

But what is troublesome is that Democrats will not put gay marriage on the table any time soon, to Diaz’s relief and the disappointment of people who have been denied this right.

On November 11th, in the wake of the passage of Proposition 8 in California, the paper unequivocally stood behind marriage rights for same-sex couples in New York for the first time ("A stand for same-sex marriage"):

...there are loud voices, among them State Senator Ruben Diaz, who threaten to thwart any legislation that would allow same-sex marriage in New York.

Rev. Diaz and others are supposedly not for denying rights to gays and lesbians but believe that marriage should be between a man and woman. Yet, it’s this very discriminatory position that serves to exclude lesbian and gay couples from accessing rights, benefits and treatment that heterosexuals take for granted.

This use of religious beliefs to block basic civil rights undermines the separation of church and state in this nation. The basis of that separation lies in the experience of early American colonists who had fled religious persecution elsewhere to pursue tolerance and freedom in the “new” world.

At the time I noted that it was striking that the paper had rightly singled out Diaz for scorn on this issue. In a terse response posted at the Room 8 blog, Diaz returned the favor by railing against El Diario, New York State Governor David Paterson and Hillary Clinton - while praising Republican leaders ("In total disagreement with El Diario La Prensa").

One of The Gang's most compelling criticisms before they ended their stalemate yesterday was the lack of Latino leadership in what was shaping up as the axis of power in Albany for the next few years. But is showering them with perks and titles the best way to increase Latino representation or just a reward for their intransigence and self-serving moves?

Guess which three Democrats have learned that they can grand-stand their way to power the next time the Democratic Senate majority stands in the way of one of their pet projects.

Update: Today's New York Times on the deal ("3 Senate Democrats End Holdout in Return for Power Sharing"):

More important, said people involved in the negotiations, Mr. [Ruben] Díaz is now confident that there will be no vote in the Senate next year on legislation to legalize gay marriage, something which most Senate Democrats support but which Mr. Diaz strongly opposes.

Word of the potential retreat on a same-sex marriage legislation disappointed some backers of equal treatment for gay people.

“All civil rights movements have moments where they move forward, and moments of perceived setbacks,” said Assemblyman Daniel J. O’Donnell of Manhattan. “If in fact our civil rights were bargained away, that’s deplorable. But in the end, I think justice and fairness will prevail.”

NYS: Revernd Ruben Diaz, Sr. will introduce anti-gay marriage referendum today

One of the striking things about yesterday's El Diario La Prensa editorial backing marriage rights for same-sex couples was their explicit rejection of efforts by New York State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. to derail any legislation granting same-sex couples the rights afforded to married couples or to sponsor bills that discriminate against same-sex couples (the Senator also happens to be an ordained minister).

From the editorial which I quoted in full yesterday:

Rev. Diaz and others are supposedly not for denying rights to gays and lesbians but believe that marriage should be between a man and woman. Yet, it’s this very discriminatory position that serves to exclude lesbian and gay couples from accessing rights, benefits and treatment that heterosexuals take for granted.

This use of religious beliefs to block basic civil rights undermines the separation of church and state in this nation.

In today's edition, El Diario La Prensa runs an interview with the not so good Reverend in which he once again spouts off his mouth on his favorite topic: The gays ("Reverend Diaz: Gay marriage goes to referendum" by Jose Acosta).

In it, Diaz announces that he will introduce a State Senate bill today pushing for a statewide referendum on same-sex marriage:

I do not think it is appropriate that a group of lawmakers are the ones to decide whether or not gay marriage is approved in New York. I, as a legislator, do not want to impose my will, and this is why I am asking that there be a referendum on the issue as was done in California, and that the 20 million inhabitants of the State of New York be the ones who decide in a democratic election

OMG, thank you for protecting the electorate from efforts to grant a much-discriminated minority equal rights, Senator! Makes you wonder if the Reverend would feel the same about it if he felt there was enough support for a legislative ban on same-sex marriages!

But how about that pesky separation of church and state? hm...

I am a pastor and cannot, with my vote, bring homosexual marriage to the State of New York. My dissent would come to an end if my colleagues support the bill I am submitting

Well, so much for that! At least he never ceases to disappoint... in a bad way, of course.

As for the chances of a referendum moving forward in New York State, here is how Paul Schindler puts it in last week's Gay City News:

Despite the press play that proposal got across the state and on some blog sites that usually show greater political acumen, the referendum idea is, in fact, a non-starter. New York voters do not currently have the right to initiate such ballot questions, and though Senate Republicans have at times flirted with passing a law to enable them to, they have not seriously advanced the concept, nor are the Assembly Democrats about to surrender their prerogatives in this way.

The only other way to put the question to the voters would be for the Legislature, in two successive sessions, to approve a constitutional amendment referendum. That approach, too, has no support among Democrats, in either the Assembly or the Senate.

Update:

• The Gang of Four... no, Three... hm, Two... er, None? (Nov. 24, 2008)

Related:

• The Center of Attention (Elizabeth Benjamin's The Daily Politics)

Previously:

• Anti-gay rally by Hispanic religious leaders is a flop (Sept. 8, 2008)

New York's largest Spanish language newspaper backs marriage rights for same-sex couples

I might be wrong but this might be a first. Today New York's El Diario La Prensa - the Spanish-language newspaper with the second largest circulation numbers in the United States - published a strong editorial backing same-sex marriage rights for same-sex couples. This in the wake of weekend nationwide demonstrations against Proposition 8 in California and recent anti-gay statements by the reliably homophobic Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr. (also a NYS Senator).

From the editorial:

A Stand for same-sex marriage
El Diario La Prensa, Nov. 17, 2008

Latinos have fought too hard and long for equal rights. This is why we must rally around a sector of our community that remains even more discriminated against--gays and lesbians.

Across the country this weekend, people protested against measures banning same-sex marriage. One of these bans came as a harder blow in California, where thousands of couples had married since that state’s Supreme Court had legalized same-sex marriage in the spring.

After that legal decision, Governor David Paterson announced that New York state agencies would recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions.

But there are loud voices, among them State Senator Ruben Diaz, who threaten to thwart any legislation that would allow same-sex marriage in New York.

Rev. Diaz and others are supposedly not for denying rights to gays and lesbians but believe that marriage should be between a man and woman. Yet, it’s this very discriminatory position that serves to exclude lesbian and gay couples from accessing rights, benefits and treatment that heterosexuals take for granted.

This use of religious beliefs to block basic civil rights undermines the separation of church and state in this nation. The basis of that separation lies in the experience of early American colonists who had fled religious persecution elsewhere to pursue tolerance and freedom in the “new” world.

Latinos, as well as other groups, should have an honest conversation about homophobia. Discrimination, whether within or outside of our communities, on the basis of color, immigration status, gender or sexuality is just not acceptable.

Across the nation, a gay rights agenda must be representative of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Latinos and the deeper inequities they confront. The gap between the struggle for LGBT rights and the struggles for economic and racial justice needs to be closed.

Back in October of 2005 I highlighted their strong editorial against efforts by the Vatican to purge gay priests from their rolls but this is the first time I remember the paper standing unequivocally for same-sex marriage rights.

I say: Thank you! La Opinion, which is based in Los Angeles and has the largest circulation numbers among Spanish-language news dailies in the US, did it first. It is very welcome nevertheless.

Update: Here is the Reverend's unhinged response to the EDLP editorial -

• In Total Disagreement with El Diario La Prensa (Ruben Diaz, Sr., Room 8, Nov. 30, 2008)

Previously:

• La Prensa backs marriage for same-sex couples in California (Oct. 10, 2008)
• Anti-gay NYC rally by Hispanic religious leaders is a flop (Sept. 8, 2008)
• El Diario La Prensa and Latino gay pride (June 24, 2007)
• Newspaper watch: Hoy New York and same-sex marriage (Sept. 19, 2005)

Trial begins in the slaying of Edgar Garzon

Duncan Osborne at Gay City News and Ikimulisa Livingston at the New York Post cover the opening statements in a trial to determine whether John L. McGhee killed my friend Edgar Garzon in the summer of 2001.

"I will prove to you that this defendant did this because Mr. Garzon was a gay man and he made the mistake of hitting on this defendant," said prosecutor Karen Ross representing the Queens District Attorney's office.

McGhee was arrested in June of 2006 upon returning from the UK based on a statement given by a witness who came forward a year after the attack and statements made later by people close to McGhee.

According to the Post, Defense lawyer Charles Abercrombie said McGhee is innocent and pointed out that there "is no DNA evidence, no fingerprints and no weapons connecting McGhee to the crime."

Despite attempts from Abercrombie to have the judge limit the testimony of Leonor Garzon, Edgar's mother, to simply identifying her son in a photo, Ms. Garzon gave moving testimony as she weeped on the stand. Quoting from Gay City News:

Before Leonor testified, and with the jury out of the courtroom, Abercrombie asked that she be limited to identifying Edgar from his hospital photos and she not be allowed to discuss his life or achievements.

"The character of the victim is not an issue in this case," he told Robert J. Hanophy, the judge in the case. Ross and Hanophy agreed.

Questioned by Ross, Leonor went on at length about Edgar's work as a film editor, restaurant owner, and set designer. He was "very creative," she said. She wept when asked about first seeing Edgar in the hospital.

"His face had no shape at all," Leonor said through a translator. "I kept talking to him and I was afraid to kiss him."

When Ross asked, "Did he respond to you at all?" Leonor burst into tears and said only "No, no."

While Abercrombie could have objected, given the earlier agreement with the prosecutor and the judge, interrupting a weeping mother's testimony could anger the jury. It was only when Ross paused to introduce two hospital photos of Edgar that Abercrombie got a discussion out of the jury's hearing and Leonor was dismissed from the stand.

Hanophy later told the jury that both sides had agreed that Leonor had identified Edgar.

With the jury out of the courtroom, Abercrombie asked for a mistrial or that the jury be told to ignore Leonor's testimony. Hanophy denied both motions.

Trial resumes on Monday.

Update:

• July 25, 2007: Judge declares mistrail in Edgar Garzon murder case

Previously on Blabbeando:

• February 8, 2007: Michael J. Sandy and Edgar Garzon pre-trial hearings underway
  
• October 18, 2006: A Pansy for Edgar Garzon
• September 5, 2006: 5th Annual Memorial Mass and Vigil in honor of Eddie Garzon
  
• July 7, 2006: Gay City News on Eddie Garzon
  
• July 1, 2006: Armando Garzon talks to El Diario La Prensa
• June 30, 2006: New York Times: Stepping off plane, man is arrested in '01 murder
  
• June 29, 2006: Eddie Garzon: After five years, an arrest
  
• Part 1: The Attack
• Part 2: COLEGA and Eddie Garzon
• Part 3: So what is, exactly, is a 'hate crime'? (and a prayer)
• Part 4: Eddie Garzon passes on
• Part 5: The Vigil
• Part 6: A Newsday Editorial
• Part 7: A parade of angels
• Part 8: Epilogue

El Diario La Prensa and Latino Gay Pride

Today's editorial from the Spanish-language newspaper El Diario La Prensa is all about gay pride and Latino LGBT activism ("Honoring Gay Pride"). It follows Spanish-language only articles published yesterday and today taking a look at different aspects of the Latino LGBT community which include:

Yesterday's paper:

• "The presence of Hispanics in Stonewall"
• "The forgotten in immigration reform: Same-sex partners" on difficulties faced by bi-national same-sex couples (an English language translation is posted on Canadian Hope, the blog of one of the featured couples - and good friends - Tom and Emilio).
  
• An OpEd by Pedro Julio Serrano: "Targetted by violence: Latino gays and lesbians"

Today's paper:

• "They also want to be recognized" on the fight for same-sex marriage rights in New York State
• "Civil unions: More social security" on gains in New Jersey for same-sex couples
• "Homes for gay youths in New York" on Sylvia's Place, a homeless shelter for LGBT youth named in honor of transgender activist Sylvia Rivera
• "Proud of my truth" - a Latina woman from New Jersey describes what makes her proud of being a lesbian.
• Video of today's parade
  

In the meantime, as we shared a few days ago, we did some research here at Blabbeando for images that El Diario might be able to use (and provided a few contacts for their reporting). If you want to look through some of those images, here's a handy summary as well:

• 1997: The Latino Caucus of ACT UP and Latino LGBT activism in the 1980's and 90's
• 1998: The first ever Bronx LGBT Pride parade
• 1999: LGBT contingents at the non-gay Puerto Rican Pride parade
• 2002: The annual Dominican LGBT picnic under the George Washington Bridge
• 2003: COLEGA waltzes for same-sex partnership rights in Colombia at Queens Pride
• 2004: Confronting religious homophobia in the Bronx and marching down 5th Avenue
• 2006: Latino LGBT precence at the immigration rights rallies

Latino LGBT pride in NYC: 1997

The Spanish language newspaper El Diario La Prensa is publishing an LGBT pride supplement this year and I've been providing information to a few reporters on issues related to the history of Latino LGBT organizing in the city, challenges faced by bi-national same-sex couples and Latinos involved in the push for same-sex marriage in New York.

I have also been looking through images that I have that might help to illustrate the vibrancy of Latino LGBT life in New York over the last decade and have submitted some although I'm not sure they will be published.

In the next few posts I will share some of them and my recollections on where and when they were taken.

copyrighted photo - to post, please ask for permission: blabbeando@gmail.com

Let's start with ACT UP and members of the Latino Caucus: The back of the photo I scanned says April of 1997 so I'm not exactly sure on what exact day it was taken or what the protest was about (obviously access to treatments was a theme but considering the size of the crowd it must have been a reaction to something).

I do remember that I was marching with members of ACT-UP's Latino Caucus including Hector Seda, Carlos Maldonado, Popo and a few other people who I'd befriended and had shown me the ropes of activism. Not sure if Sam Larson or Jesus Aguais were there on that day. I was dating a great Peruvian guy, Fernando Mariscal, who was a photo enthusiast and must still have quite a collection of historic photos from those days.

I think by the time I met them, the caucus had folded but they still continued to participate in marches and hang out socially. I was in awe of their activism and wanted to grow up and be just like them (hehe).

While ACT UP is not a gay rights organization, the historical importance to Latino LGBT advocacy in New York is that some of the members of the ACT UP Latino Caucus were influential in launching a couple of gay Latino organizations. Jesus Aguais, who now directs Aid for AIDS, founded the now-defunct Venezuelan Gay and Lesbian Association (VGLA) which led also to the creation of the Colombian Lesbian and Gay Association (COLEGA) - Jesus was dating a Colombian guy and suggested that he bring some people together to launch a Colombian organization, which he did. I ended up being co-chair of COLEGA a couple of years later.

Gonzalo Aburto, who would later become editor of the Spanish-language version of POZ Magazine, also was among a few guys who launched HoMoVISIONES, another gay Latino organization that was unique in that it was not a social or a community service organization but focused on creating audiovisual material covering issues related to the Latino LGBT community. They had an incredible community access cable news show which, among other things, captured the only video I remember seeing of a NYPD officer mounted on a horse trampling through some activists at the massive Matthew Sheppard rally that took place in Manhattan on October 13 of 1998 (the police had penned in demostrators on side streets between avenues and were arresting people en masse). Gonzalo now produces the only 'Rock in Spanish' radio show in New York (La Nueva Alternativa) and writes for... El Diario La Prensa.

At the time there were already a number of Latino gay organizations, including Las Buenas Amigas and Latino Gay Men of New York (currently the longest existing surviving Latino gay organizations in the city) and Latinas y Latinos de Ambiente de Nueva York (LLANY) which still gets listed on gay directories even though I believe it's been more than a decade since it folded. These, in turn, were born out of earlier Latino LGBT organizing in the city and organizations such as HUGGL (sp?) which was gone by the time I moved to New York and, I believe, was founded as a direct result of the incredible rise of power of the Puerto Rican communities in New York in the 1980's and 1990's. I used to know some of this by heart but, unfortunately, time erases some memories and details.

There are still some people out there who have written about that part of Latino LGBT organizing history in New York, most notably Luis Aponte-Pares.

Who is Luis Barrios? Why isn't he in jail?

Let me tell you a couple of things about the Reverend Luis Barrios:

• In 2006 he was honored by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation when they named him the Outstanding Spanish-language Newspaper Columnist of 2006. For years Reverend Barrios has written an influential weekly opinion column in the New York daily El Diario La Prensa which he has often used as a platform to advocate for LGBT rights.

• In July of 2006 he spoke up against the New York State Court of Appeals' decision that the state is not required to provide equal access to marriage for same-sex couples. In an Empire State Pride Agenda statement, the Reverend was quoted as saying:

"It is a shame that the Court made a decision to not protect the rights of all people. This unfavorable decision affects people that love and take care of each other. Family values lost out today. However, just because the court did not require the legislature to act does not mean that it should neglect its duty when it comes to lesbian and gay couples and their children. We now call upon the legislators to pass a law that allows loving same-sex couples to marry so that they have access to the same life-and-death legal rights and responsibilities that are given to all other families."

• In a 2006 profile from the Columbia school of journalism news service he tells Alison Ogden the reason why he allows condoms to be distributed at his church services: Three of his brothers died of AIDS in the mid-1980's.

• In May of 2006 he spoke movingly of long-time gay activist and journalist Juan Mendez upon his untimely passing when I asked him to reach out to Gay City News for an obituary they were drafting in Juan's honor.

• In 2004 he accepted my invitation to participate as a panelist at a Hostos Community College forum on the issue of marriage rights for same-sex couples and riled against homophobic Reverend (and state senator) Ruben Diaz, Sr. for the pro-Bush and anti-gay rally he'd organized weeks earlier at the Bronx Courthouse.

• In 2001, he accepted my invitation to say a prayer in memory of Eddie Garzon at a memorial vigil that I organized in Queens a couple of days after Eddie died from injuries he sustained when he was beaten up on the streets of Jackson Heights as he walked home from a nigh out at the gay bars.

• Hm, he also was kind enough to bring me some Dominican cigars from a trip to the Caribbean island last year.

Still, I swear that I am not being biased in my suggestion that he shouldn't go to jail.

You see, ever since he attended an anti-Bush demonstration at the United Nations in September of last year, Reverend Barrios had faced charges of assaulting an officer, of disorderly conduct and of resisting arrest; charges that could have sent him to prison for five years (or more).

Fortunately on Wednesday the court decided that some of the charges had been less than credible and dropped all charges except "violation of disorderly conduct" for which he was charged with time served and a fine of $95 dollars.

Reverend Barrios maintains that he was innocent of all charges and says that the disorderly conduct charge is the price to pay nowadays for civil disobedience.

All in all, we are happy to still have the Reverend amongst us, free to predicate his inclusive sermons.