Tony Martinez, my hero

OK, one last post-Monserrate-loss post. Steven Trasher was the man on the street for The Village Voice here in Jackson Heights as this week's special NYS Senate election drew near. On election day he posted video of some of the street interaction between campaign volunteers pushing Hiram Monserrate on one side and José Peralta on the other.

On my way to my voting site, I noticed one particular guy - a Peralta supporter - having a back and forth with some Monserrate backers. It wasn't exactly cordial but he was coming up with some great and funny retorts. On campaign day, I sometimes assume that those giving campaign literature are usually not from the neighborhood and recruited by labor unions or some other outside interest. This guy made me smile but I pretty much side-stepped him, and went on to place my vote.

Now, I'm not sure if this guy was labor, or lives in the NYS Senate 13th District, or is gay, but thanks to Steven Trasher at The Village Voice I now know that his name is Tony Martinez and that he specifically told Trasher that his reason for being out there was José Peralta's support for marriage equality.

So, here is to Tony Martinez, who stood on a corner all day long on Tuesday, taking shit from Monserrate supporters all day long, and specifically for the right of gays to get married.

Trasher has more of Tony on this Village Voice blog post.

Previously:

• Parting shot: Hiram Monserrate loses big in trying to regain NYS Senate seat
  
• The Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr. stumps for Hiram Monserrate in Queens
• So, Hiram Monserrate walks into a gay bar

Parting Shot: Hiram Monserrate loses big in trying to regain NYS Senate seat

The New York Times is reporting tonight that those of us who live in the New York State 13th Senate District will have a new representative. Democratic Assemblymember José Peralta handily beat former Senator Hiram Monserrate, who ran on an independent line, and Robert Beltrani who ran on the Republican line.

With 94% of the vote, the tally was Peralta with 66%, Monserrate with 27% and Beltrani with 7%.

Coming home tonight, I already had received the news that Peralta had won big tonight. So when I saw this particular piece of literature, it didn't upset me as much as it would have if I had seen it before the election. As a parting shot, though, here is how low Monserrate was willing to go in using marriage equality as a wedge issue.

Google "The Muslim-American Coalition for Morality" and what do you get? Nothing. Zip. Zero. Nada. No helpful contact phone number or e-mail on the flyer, no names mention as to who exactly is "The Muslim-American Coalition for Morality".

There IS a large Muslim population in the borough and there are some fringe Muslim groups that peacefully protest the annual Queens LGBT Pride Parade but, as large an LGBT presence in this district, I would say that the norm is mutual respect between cultures.

Hm, i wonder what that means. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the Monserrate campaign trying to play into Muslim stereotypes as a last ditch effort to gain votes. Surely not. I mean, there MUST be a Queens-based "Muslim-American Coalition for Morality" somewhere even if they are not Google-search-friendly. Right?

UPDATE: 100% of the vote in, according to NY1. Only 14,988 people voted. Peralta received 9,803 (65.41%), Monserrate got 4,098 (27.34%) and Beltrani got 1,087 (7.25%).

PREVIOUSLY:

• The Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr. stumps for Hiram Monserrate in Queens
• So, Hiram Monserrate walks into a gay bar

Breaking News: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver supports marriage for gays?

To watch the New York State Assembly debate and vote live go here.

I will be updating this post as warranted throughout the evening (newer updates first):

• 7:42 PM - Born of immigrant Dominican parents, 39th District Assemblymember Jose Peralta (Queens) speaks movingly about his upbringing in a conservative Catholic family, of being taught to treat others with dignity and respect, of representing the 2nd largest Latino LGBT community in the United States (2nd only to Manhattan's). He invokes his "LGBT brothers and sisters" in supporting a yes vote on the bill.
  
• 7:02 PM - Thunder and lighting!! For real.
  
• 6:29 PM - Debate is ON!!!!
  
• 6:00 PM - Recess is taking a bit longer than expected. According to Capitol Confidential it was taken to "accomodate the Republican minority who wanted to meet" just before the debate. The Confidential also says that support might be in the 80's with some Republicans rumored to be joining the Democratic majority in voting in favor of the bill (76 yay votes are needed for the measure to pass the Assembly).
  
• 4:59 PM - House in recess 'til 5:30pm; off the floor The Agenda is reporting that the Assembly Rules Committee has voted 21-8 to advance the bill. Among those votes? ASSEMBLY SPEAKER SHELDON SILVER WHO HAS VOTED IN FAVOR OF MOVING THE BILL FOWARD.
• 4:21 PM - The oh-so-boring roll call process is being enlivened by - ehem - hunky Democratic Assemblyman Luis M. Diaz from the Bronx who for some reason is sitting in Speaker Sheldon Silver's chair and overseeing the process. Debate on the marriage bill has yet to come up.
• The Albany Times-Union Capitol Confidential blog puts the time of debate at 4:00pm and has a memo released by the Catholic Conference stating that, while they dignify us and love us, marriage for the gays would be "disastrous" for society. Big surprise.
• The New York Daily News Daily Politics blog says that the debate will open after 3:30pm and says that some conservative State Assembly Republicans see this as a win since they predict that the move to debate such a bill will ultimately reflect bad on Democrats in the Assembly.