CONLAMIC Watch: ...and it's just about time!

The Rev. Ruben Diaz, Sr. (at podium) shells out for the Bush mandate at a CONLAMIC-led Bronx demo in March of 2004

So we had started to worry a little about poor, sad anti-gay CONLAMIC (a/k/a Coalicion Nacional Latina de Ministros & Lideres Cristianos a/k/a the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders) when their website seemed to disappear earlier this year. Then we felt concerned that, after months of supporting an immigration bill that would allow some immigrants to become residents, they flip-flopped at the last possible minute when the bill needed true support and joined other ultra-conservative Hispanic organizations in supporting an immigration bill that did NOT offer a path to citizenship . Fear not, sell-out Hispanic religious leaders! At least CONLAMIC's website is back!

And yet not all is well. MSNBC.COM has an article today about a promising if still tentative fall-out between Karl Rove-ness and Hispanic religious leaders who sold their souls to the devil in supporting the Bush doctrine. Miguel Martinez, of CONLAMIC, is said to have attended a recent Republican National Committee meeting where he was so despondent that he exclaimed "I pray for the soul of the Republican party."

Too good to be true? I'll still wait and see.

Come back to your true community, CONLAMIC! We're here with open arms!

Previously on "CONLAMIC watch:"

• Adolfo Carrion on Hispanic evangelicals and NYC politics (April 30, 2006)
• On immigration? Still pmping for the extreme right (April 9, 2006)
• Pimping for Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist & John Roberts (Sept. 29, 2005)
• Howard Dean and the DNC miss the mark on CONLAMIC (Sept. 22, 2006)

The Rev. Ruben Diaz, Sr. talks about recent NYS ruling on same-sex marriages

Local Spanish-language newspaper IMPACTO interviews the Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr. on a recent ruling by the New York State Court of Appeals not to recognize the right to marry for same-sex couples.

Diaz, also a New York State Senator from the Bronx, tells IMPACTO that, after the ruling, "there is now no way that organizations, movements or legal claims can get these unions recognized" even if he does expect legislative challenges to the State Constitution. "Perhaps in the Assembly, they (homosexuals) will be able to gather support, because the Democrats are in power, but not in the Senate, where the majority is Republican and some of the Democrats are against gay marriage."

He also continues to blur his responsibilities as an elected official and his role as an evangelical preacher: "I believe that my religion as a pastor and preacher of evangelical teaching, bars me from promoting a law of that kind."

But, in what the newspaper notes is a marked departure from past statements by the Reverend, he also ads "Of what I am absolutely in favor is that there should not be any discrimination against those people based on their sexual preferences in none of these areas," referring to access to education, housing and health services.

Diaz has previously editorialized on the marriage issue elsewhere as well.

Speaking of State Senators from the Bronx, Democrat State Senator Efraim Gonzalez, Jr., was indicted on Friday for allegedly using $37,000 dollars given to a charity organization he founded towards, among other things, trips to the Caribbean and baseball game tickets. Hm, I guess a man is not guilty until proven so, but why is there and indictment here when Diaz himself has gotten away with pretty much the same thing?

Of heretical reverends, NYS Senator Ruben Diaz and a cure for AIDS

Reading Hoy newspaper last Friday, something caught my attention:

On the eve of "a historic Christianca community gathering" humbly titled "The Last Crusade" which took place at the Madison Square Garden this past weekend, Pastor Ricardo Reyes of the Queens-based El Elyon Church told reporter Tommy Calle:

[Translated by yours truly] In this 'crusade' at the Madison Square Garden' we hope to count with the presence of people who are sick with AIDS, cancer and all types of incurable illnesses so that they will be healed through their faith and the power of God

The event not only counted with performers such as the Pastor's wife, Lucy Reyes, but Christian reggaeton 'sensations' The Reyes Queenz (daughters of the Reyeses).

Now, many a congregation nowadays promises to 'cure' people of everything and, though the quote stuck in my head, the whole article just struck me as a puff piece on the Reyes clan.

Then I caught this WNYC radio report and transcript and realized it was more than that.

REPORTER: Most of the crowd is Latino, though there are many blacks, Asians and some whites. Yirzavit Castillo, whose father runs a church in the Bronx, is here, because he saw one of the many Spanish-language TV ads, complete with celebrity endorsements

The event was actually a revival by controversial South Korean preacher Jae-Rock Lee and the WNYC reporter mentions other supporters:

REPORTER: At the Garden, [Lee] was joined on stage by New York State Senator Rev. Ruben Diaz and by the head of the National Religious Broadcasters, one of the country’s most influential evangelical groups

Outside the Garden, there were protests by South Koreans, who claimed that Lee was setting himself up to be the next Reverend Myung-Sun Moon, by seeking to align himself with foreign religious leaders to gain respectability when in South Korea, some see him as being a heretical preacher. WNYC says:

REPORTER: Like Reverend Moon, Jae-Rock Lee has been disowned by the Korean evangelical establishment. He was kicked out of his denomination for teachings his critics say are heresy. One website says he has claimed to sit at the throne of God, command angels and performed every miracle in the Bible except walking on water... In 1999, Jae-Rock Lee made headlines when his followers stormed a television station in Seoul and took over the control room, as it was preparing to broadcast a documentary about him. But at the Garden, few of those attending knew or cared about Lee’s clashes back home or his alleged blasphemy. They came because they had seen the ads, or because their preachers had told them to come witness Lee’s teaching

A 'healing session' closed the opening day ceremony with people "limping up to the stage" on crutches and screaming in joy after being 'healed.' WNYC says:

REPORTER: Little noticed by the crowd were those who were turned away – those who couldn’t get out of their wheelchairs, including one man wearing a yarmulke. In the meantime, Jaerock Lee kept chanting, while on the stage below him Juan Sanchez kept tossing his cane in the air and catching it. The semi-paralyzed gunshot victim was one of more than a dozen people exuberantly shuffling back and forth, smiling, shouting and blowing kisses to the crowd. Afterward, Sanchez explained what happened.

SANCHEZ: Today, when the pastor prayed, I felt my leg becoming straight. And my lower back – the pain is gone. I can walk normally. Now I’ve got more faith in my heart and my body and my soul, too.

REPORTER: Sanchez said that he trusts God will help him continue to improve, and he’ll pray every day, just like he always does. Then he leaned on his wife, limped toward the subway and returned to Queens.

This level of cross-pollination between conservative minority religious denominations and leaders makes me a bit queasy and not in small part because it's happening under the radar.

Richard Bartholomew at Salon blogs does and deconstructs the event press release here. Money quote (on an announced 'medical table' at the event were American and Korean doctors were supposed to pray for healing and assess afterwards if the person had indeed been cured thru prayer):

How exactly doctors will be able to make medically-valid diagnoses from a swift once-over at a “medical table” is not explained. However, one New York senator is not bothered by such a detail. ASSIST’s Dan Wooding spoke to Johnny Kim, who liases with mere mortals on behalf of Lee.

Updates: Loose ends

Yesterday's NYS marriage decision: There is lots out there about yesterday's marriage decision so I won't say too much about it except that after the initial anger there's the sadness that one of the states that is considered among the most progressive can elicit such a regressive, backwards majority decision against gay couples.

And, because I also don't want people to forget who is doing some of the gloating today, I will point out to this article from today's The Christian Post in which the oh-so-ethical and moral Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr. forgets, once again, that there is a separation of church and state. He also says that while "only the state legislatures are the ones that could decide if there should be homosexual marriages or not," it is obvious that he'd rather not even give the New York State legislature that chance (he also reacts to the recent settlement in the case brought against the Harvey Milk School).

The man in the blue shirt standing on the tree pot and blocking the view: In the meantime, since I'm the one always taking the photos at events, I rarely get the chance of capturing myself in the frame, which is why it's so nice that Lavi took the above picture while I stood on one of those cement tree pots that are spread throughout the city. To the man who shouted that I should keep my hands off the tree, I was actually careful and nice about the tree but also wanted to keep balance and avoid scraping my knee at the event just like I did with the same cement pot while taking these pics. To the man who asked me to step down if I wasn't gonna take pictures, I did take pictures! For others whose view might have been blocked, apologies!

Porn: Now, a couple of months ago, we made comments on some scandalous allegations involving FlavaWorks and CocoBoyz / CocoDorm, purveyors of so-called homo-thug porn. In said post, we mentioned Enrique Cruz and his La Mancha Productions and yesterday someone who signed in as 'Ken' left some choice words about Cruz (see replies). My original post was elicited by something that Bernard first wrote in April. Last week, Bernard posted an update that we'd be remiss if we didn't link to as it speaks of changes at FlavaWorks that bode well for the enterprise. On a side note, Rod2.0 also links up to former La Mancha star Tiger Tyson's - uh - blog?

Updates: Gay panic, Harvey Milk School, Guillen's hairdresser, Poodle pride

The Diaz Family: We've written about the homophobic New York State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. in the past as well as his not-so-homophobic son, Assemblymember Ruben Diaz, Jr.

Let's start with the better of the two, Junior, who might be embroiled in some of the scandals involving the distribution of discretionary public funding for the not so altruistic benefit of his own parents and his step-mother, but has never expressed, to my knowledge, a homophobic comment or sentiment (unlike his father), and has actually sometimes acted to reign in his dad's attacks on the LGBT community.

Over at the Stonewall Democrats of New York blog, you will see that the group is working with Jr. to pass legislation to ban so-called "gay panic" defense strategies in the courts of New York State in the wake of the attack on Kevin Aviance. On Tuesday, SDNY posted the draft text and is looking to build support for the bill in the next legislative session.

In the meantime, considering how much broo-ha-ha there was over Mayor Mike Bloomberg's decision to allow the City to provide public funds to the Harvey Milk School in 2003 and the follow-up suit against the city claiming that the move discriminated against schools that served minorities in the boroughs (lead plaintiff? Yup! Diaz, Sr.), it's shocking how little play the actual resolution of the suit has received since a Tuesday settlement was reported yesterday in the New York Post.

As recently as March, Diaz, Sr. was foaming at the mouth at the lack of a court desision blaming New York Supreme Court Justice Doris-Ling Cohan for taking her time while ruling in favor of the right to marry for same sex couples in New York State (no big surprise that Diaz, Sr. is also a lead plaintiff against the right to marry for gay couples in the recent New York State Court of Appeals hearing on the issue).

In an agreement that Diaz, Sr. called "beneficial to everyone," the City simply agreed to stop referring to the Harvey Milk High School as a "gay school." Sounds to me like a huge defeat for the Reverend.

Ozzie Guillen: Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie! Last week we took Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to task for claiming his Venezuelan cultural background for not knowing that calling someone a "fucking fag" was homophobic. He's already said that the fact that he likes Madonna should give him a pass anyway but, since then, he sorta "quote unquote" apologized (full interview video here), was fined for the slur and ordered to attend sensitivity trainings.

Now, he's threatening to follow through with a visit to the upcoming Gay Games (Chicago, July 15th - July 22nd). The Chicago Sun-Times reports today that one of the organizers of the Games is simply thrilled: "We're glad to hear he'll be attending because it demonstrates how the gay games brings people together -- whether straight or gay -- through competition. There's no hurt feelings. He's apologized . . . he won't do it again" (we are betting that the no hurt feelings policy has nothing, null, zero and absolutely no relationship to the golden public relations bonanza they've been getting from Guillen telling everyone he will use the Games as his 'I'm no homo but I'm not a homophobe either' calling card).

Better yet! Guillen's bestest hairdresser friend Edwin Quiroz, a gay Latino man to boot, told the Sun-Times: "He just wants to do things like that. He's a cool guy. It's what I expect Ozzie to do."

Gwen Knapp at the San Francisco Chronicle suggests he bring along John Rocker to the games. We still say he has not really apologized and that the Gay Games should disinvite him.

Oswaldo Gomez a/k/a Miss Colombia a/k/a La Paisa a/k/a Rosita Oswald: Never say that you didn't hear it first! Back in October (yes! October!) we pointed out that Colombian sensation La Paisa was not only featured in the Queens Tribune first ever gay-themed special issue but on VH1's Best Week Ever! Well, world domination is next: Just this week there were sightings in the New York Press AND the AP as pictured above. Go Oswaldo!

Come on, Guillen, kiss La Paisa and all will be forgiven!

Of Latino homophobes and the NYC Mayoral Race

Things that make you go hmm...

From today's El Diario La Prensa in a political briefs column by Eva Sanchis:

Rubén Díaz Sr., stay calm in the Bronx: The Puerto Rican [NYS] Senator Rubén Díaz Sr. recently confessed to several reporters in a Ferrer campaign stop that campaign organizers had asked him to stay "calm" with his position and not to draw too much public attention to his support for Ferrer. Apparently, Ferrer's campaign does not want the Senator, who is against gay marriage, to scare away the gay and lesbian community, which Ferrer has courted. Diaz said that he would vote for the Puerto Rican, even though in the past he threatened to boycott him in the elections for his support of gay marriages. Maibe Gonzalez, a spokesperson for Ferrer, said that she could not confirm Diaz' comments and said that the campaign would be grateful to receive his support. Yesterday, the Reverend said that he would vote for Ferrer "because culture and blood mean more."

But, if the Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr. is making moves towards Ferrer, at the very least Ferrer doesn't seem to be embracing him, which is less than what can be said about Mike Bloomberg standing on a stage on Friday and rapturously embracing the support from San Juan Mayor Jorge Santini-Padilla (pictured above). Hm, let's take a closer look:

• Used rumors about his challenger's sexuality as a tactic to defeat him in a close mayoral race in 2000: "The bad blood between the two began in 2000, when [Eduardo] Bhatia accused Santini of snorting coke and Santini accused Bhatia of being a closeted homosexual" says this Oct. 2, 2004 opinion piece from El Vocero. The article goes on to say that when Bhatia challenged Santini again in the 2004 mayoral race, now a married man, Santini still accused him of not having "a traditional family" since his wife had not been born in Puerto Rico.
  
• On August 2, 2003, following "complaints from several Puerto Rican conservative and religious groups over its nude scenes," Santini ordered a Puerto Rican staging of gay-themed play "Naked Boys Singing"shut down a day before it was supposed to open. At the time, he called the play "immoral" but the City of San Juan was later forced in court to pay $1.3 million for breaking production agreements.

Not that homophobes who embrace Bloomberg have been discouraged from endorsing the Bloomberg campaign in the past...

A funny thing though, today's El Nuevo Dia says that in a press conference yesterday, Reverend Diaz actually said of the Santini endorsement: "If you are not going to help, don't 'not help,' the Mayor of San Juan is wrong [in opposing Ferrer]."

Blabbeando in the news

Is it me or is Gay City News sporting a brand new logo? Spiffy, if you ask me.

That's not all, today's issue - already posted on-line - has an article by Andy Humm on the Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr. (Ruben Diaz Agnostic on Mayor's Race) in which Diaz confirms that he will not be making an endorsement in the race, as he had told El Diario La Prensa a few days back as I reported earlier (the article also raises interesting issues about the Bloomberg campaign's refusal to answer questions on their own homophobic endorsers while trying to play up the tepid Diaz connection to Ferrer - so go read it now).

This week I have been a little stunned by how many people have come up to me and told me they've read my blog. Sometimes you don't realize how public a space this can actually be. It's fun to use PubSub to figure out if others are linking to your blog. Otherwise how was I to know that The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School took a liking to my post on Chile's LGBT pride?

This article, though, is the first time that Blabbeando has been quoted in the press although, alas, not by name. Pretty cool, no?

Now, remember that front-page New York Blade article which was purportedly about "New York's blogging elite" but actually turned out to bee one big free ad for the launch of Queerty? Well, both Queerty and Jossip have been down for a few hours. It's not that we are wishing them bad luck but what's up?

UPDATE: Glad to report that Queerty is back Though Jossip seems to still be on the blink. A legend on the Jossips site says:

As you've noticed, Jossip is offline due to some web hosting issues. We're as unhappy as you are, but leave the bitching to our hosting provider to us. Trust — they're getting enough from our mouth as it is. We hope to be back on shortly, and by "shortly" we mean yesterday. You'll be the first we tell, we promise. Thanks so much for your patience! Should you need to reach us for any reason, the email as always is tattle@jossip.com.

Fernando Ferrer: I will withdraw City's appeal to same-sex marriage ruling

Wednesday night, at a membership meeting of Marriage Equality New York, mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer came out swinging on the same-sex marriage issue as well as other LGBT concerns. Among the issues that Ferrer addressed:

On Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr.: "He does not support me, I have not asked for his support."

On Mayor Bloomberg's appeal of Judge Doris Ling-Cohan's ruling in favor of same-sex mariage: "Absolutely! As mayor I will withdraw the City's shameful court appeal of the same-sex marriage ruling [allowing same-sex couples to marry]"

On other issues: Ferrer also spoke passionately about the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA), the Reverend Diaz' misguided lawsuit against the Harvey Milk School, and the Equal Benefits Bill, which would require that businesses with a budget above $100,000 extend partner benefits to same-sex couples (which Bloomberg vetoed).

For more photos of tonight's meeting go here.

Still Voting for Fernando Ferrer

As Politicker posts sometimes are, there seems to have been less to the story about Ferrer and the homophobic Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr. about which I wrote a few days back. Though the two appeared at a press conference, there was no endorsement by Diaz as rumored and no endorsement is apparently coming down the line as well. And after all is said and done, Ferrer still stands against the Reverend's positions on LGBT rights.

As political games go, the issue of Diaz is a sore point for me as a leader in the Latino LGBT community but I just keep looking at the comparissons between Bloomberg and Ferrer that Andy Humm made in last week's Gay City News and have to say that I might have jumped the gun. My vote remains with Fernando Ferrer.

As for Freddy, I got this today:

Dear Friends in the LGBT Community:

I am running for mayor to fight for our Democratic values and to build a city that works better for all of us, and I am asking for your support.

I have dedicated my career to fighting for economic and social justice for all New Yorkers. Sometimes this was not a popular position to take, but being popular is not necessarily being right and I have always known the difference. As Bronx Borough President, I created the first LGBT Advisory Council and funded the first Lavender Center in the Bronx. My office organized the first gay pride parade in the borough – and I led it as Grand Marshall.

I am running for Mayor now because, as a city, we can do better. We can be fairer, more inclusive, and we can make our city work better for more of us. We can do better than a Republican Mayor who donates millions of dollars to George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, George Pataki and conservative Republicans throughout the country.

I’m running to build a city that works better for all of us:

• That means standing firm in support of equal marriage rights for all New Yorkers – not, as Mike Bloomberg has done, appealing a historic State Supreme Court decision which would have expanded human rights and liberties.
• That means standing up for equal pay and equal benefits for all New York couples – not, as Mike Bloomberg has done, failing to support the Equal Benefits Law and allowing our city to lag behind San Francisco, Los Angeles , Seattle and even Minneapolis, all of which have established equal benefits laws.
• That means standing up for all of our kids by enforcing the Dignity for All Students Act - not, as Mike Bloomberg has done, reneging on a campaign promise to ensure that every student is treated with respect and free from bullying and taunts by promising to enforce the DASA and then callously vetoing it..
• That means helping to protect all New Yorkers from the spread of HIV/AIDS by working to build permanent housing for infected low-income persons and educating all New Yorkers of the dangers of that disease.
• And that means understanding that New York’s LGBT community is as diverse as any other. It includes the young and old, people of all ethnicities, native languages, incomes and neighborhoods.

Please join me. Together we can build a city that works better for all of us. But I need your help and support. And I need your voice, your energy, your time and your spirit.

Let us do better, together.

Sincerely,

Fernando Ferrer

New Yorkers For Ferrer

14 East 38^th Street ∙ 11^th Floor ∙ New York, New York 10016
212-684-2005 ∙ fax 212-481-9505

Fernando Ferrer Bites It (and some contradictory updates?)

The Politicker is reporting, just as I posted a few days ago, that the Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr, one of the most homophobic Latino ministers in the nation, seems to have endorsed Fernando Ferrer. In my lowly blog I suggested that Ferrer turn down his endorsement if it came.

Alas, not only does he seem to have welcome the endorsement, they walked side by side as they went campaigning on the streets of New York this afternoon.

Aparently the Ferrer camp, upset by the Politicker blurb this afternoon, sent them something Ferrer apparently said at a press conference today:

Senator Diaz and I have disagreed on a great many things and we’ve agreed on a great many things. We all know we disagreed on that; we agree on this," he said, referring to safeguarding the health of public school kids.

Enough to sustain my vote for Ferrer? I'm not sure and here is why:

- Sept. 18, 2005: Fernando Ferrer's own "Leonora Fulani"

[UPDATE: Sept, 19, 2005 - Hm, where did the New York Daily News pick up the Leonora Fulani comparisson? I am somewhat surprised and reassured that Senator Tom Duane went on the record as still supporting Ferrer. Also, before yeterday's stroll through Harlem, Gay City News reporter Andy Humm also filed this Ferrer vs. Bloomberg comparisson]

[UPDATE #2: Sept, 19, 2005 - So I have it from someone out in the field that, yes, Ruben Diaz, Sr. AND Ruben Diaz, Jr., walked alongside Ferrer along with Congressman Joseph Crowley BUT, while Junior has endorsed Ferrer, Senior still has not done so - to date. The New York Times, in the meantime, also chimes in with their take on the Diaz-Ferrer press conference]

[Update #3: October 4, 2005 - I have flip-flopped again. I am back with Ferrer as you'll see here]

Forcing homophobic black preachers out of the closet

Is T.D. Jakes gay? For that matter, is Eddie Long? If you are not African- American, President Bush or Karl Rove's religious right minions, chances are that you probably won't recognize these names. Both are among the most influential black preachers in the United States. Both also have ratcheded-up their homophobic rhethoric against gays and lesbians in their weekly services, using their pulpits to instill hate, as they increasingly bask in the embrace of the religious right of this country.

Lesbian and gay African-American leaders have taken notice and have attempted to draw links between the increased synergy between these ministers and the current government, their rise to power and the outright selling-out of their pulpits as a strategy to drive away minority votes from the Democrats (not that the Democrats are doing a great job sustaining them).

I have written about some of their counterparts in the Latino community (the Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr. and Miguel Rivera of CONLAMIC), but now two of the most media-savy gay black leaders are saying enough is enough and taking it a step further.

In joint statements published in their respective blogs, Keith Boykin and Jasmyne Cannick, have announced that each will profile a separate black minister on their blogs for the next five days, leading to what they say will be "a special finale on Friday that you won't want to miss." They are also inviting readers to submit information that might confirm that specific homophobic black ministers might be gay and closeted. For more info go to:

• Jasmyne Cannick: Is Bishop Eddie Long Gay?
• Keith Boykin: Is T.D. Jakes Gay?

Watch right-wing webistes / blogs scream 'extremist gays' and 'invasion of privacy.' Watch us say, 'hypocrisy must be revealed when it hurts so many and when used for personal benefit' and 'It's about time!'

Howard Dean and the DNC miss the mark on CONLAMIC

Photo: CONLAMIC director Miguel Rivera outside the Bronx Court House on March 3, 2004, announcing a pro-Bush and anti-same-sex marriage rally, and some community activists rejecting CONLAMIC's hateful message.

Interesting news from DC: Today the Democratic National Committee (DNC) released a statement crediting the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders (CONLAMIC) for "the work they’ve done to promote immigration reform and fair treatment for undocumented immigrants" but also wishing to set them straight, as it were, or - in DNC parlance - telling them "the truth."

Apparently CONLAMIC hosted the Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Ken Mehlman today at a gathering in DC where he spoke about all the wonderful things that President Bush had done for Latinos in general including Latino immigrants (huh?).

To tell "the truth" though the DNC would do well to do some research, 'cause they ain't necessarily going to teach CONLAMIC anything they don't know:

• In 2003 CONLAMIC honored the oh-so-"immigrant friendly" Traditional Values Coalition leader Louis P. Sheldon (which, credit be given, was representative of a split in the conservative right's attitude towards immigration).
  
• In 2004, CONLAMIC bused in hundreds of people from Connecticut, Maine, New jersey, DC and Maryland to a pro-Bush, ant-gay marriage rally in the Bronx.
• The Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr., a long-time anti-gay advocate and a New York State Senator, opened the doors wide for CONLAMIC and their hateful message to reach Latinos in New York City throught that same 2004 anti-gay marriage, pro-Bush rally.
  

If the DNC wanted to tell 'the truth' it would have called it out as it truly is: CONLAMIC is as complicit in shelling out for a morally bankrupt government as anyone and no amount of 'truth-telling' will convince CONLAMIC to drop the benefits they might get for being the calling-card for the most conservative of politicians who seek to hold their nose - while pretending they care about minorities.

Fernando Ferrer's own "Leonora Fulani"?

Photo: Hispanic minister's anti-gay marriage rally in the Bronx, March 14, 2004. More photos, including those of our counter-demonstration, here.

Earlier this summer, as the Mayoral candidates sought the gay vote, they found themselves at Manhattan's LGBT Community Service Center for a mayoral forum. As some of us sat in the audience we noticed some flyers being passed around the room which attacked Fernando Ferrer for having supported the homophobic State Senator (and Reverend) Ruben Diaz, Sr. in Diaz' victorious 2002 Senate race. Those of us who had heard Ferrer talk passionately about his opposition to the Reverend's homophobic views, felt that the "anonymous" flyer was a crass attempt to tar Ferrer's considerable record on LGBT issues.

Yesterday, Mayor Mike Bloomberg pulled another one of those endorsements that have a greater symbolic impact than their actual worth: The Association of Hispanic Ministers, led by a Julio Mercado, appeared at a press conference in Brooklyn where they announced the endorsement alongside the Mayor. New York 1 has been carrying images from the press conference all day long and all major newspapers are reporting on it today. And, while the Post says that a website search for the organization did not bring back any results, the Times actually says that the group also endorsed Bloomberg in 2001.

Interestingly, the Post also reports that Bronx Assemblymember Ruben Diaz, Jr. (Reverend Ruben Diaz' son who is not as homophobic as his dad), while also calling into question the organization's existence, said that his father "intends to endorse Ferrer as leader of the New York Hispanic Clergy" (though the younger Diaz made an appearance at Thursday's Democratic Unity Rally where major political figures united in support of the Ferrer bid, the elder Diaz was one of the missing figures).

As in the 2001 elections, Bloomberg has sought and accepted the endorsement of the Independence Party, despite allegations that its leader, Leonora Fulani, has made anti-semitic remarks for which she has not appologized. His political calculation is that - while distancing himself from Fulani - he can actually benefit from being on the Independence as well as the Republican line when election day comes (though others, such as Hillary Clinton have simply refused their endorsement in the past). [Late word is that Fulani might be actually removed from her post today]

If the Reverend Diaz and his New York Hispanic Clergy do decide to endorse Ferrer, it would pose a similar question on Ferrer's desk: Will he hold his nose and accept the potentially influential endorsement from the Reverend and his followers or simply say "No thanks?"

Though the Reverend ran for the Senate on the Democratic line, he has increasingly veered to the right and not only on gay issues (he supported Bloomberg in 2001 as well as the Iraq War). But the gay community in particular remembers that he was instrumental in defeating the Children of the Rainbow Curriculum in 1991 - which sought to instill respect for diversity accross the city schools - because 3 of its 500 pages focused on gay and lesbian families; his attempts as a former councilmember to ban the 1994 Gay Games claiming that the event would spread HIV accross the city; his pending 2003 suit against the City of New York over public funds given to the Harvey Milk School; and the lead role he played in staging a massive demostration against same-sex marriage last summer (photos here).

It is easy for certain politicians to express themselves against the Reverend because they do not necessarily come from or have a Latino constituency in the areas they represent and little risk of losing votes, so for Ferrer to have been vocally opposed to many of the Reverend's stands has been courageous. Other political leaders also characterize the Reverend as a fringe figure in State and City politics, which might be the case, but not when it comes to his standing in the Latino community. But accepting an endorsement from the Reverend would certainly dissapoint those of us who have defended Ferrer against charges that he supports the Reverends homophobic views.

As for the Reverend? Well, in an interview that many might miss because it runs in today's Spanish-language newspaper El Diario La Prensa, the Reverend is not necessarily talking endorsements yet but he does go on record on the issue:

"Biblically or spiritually," says Diaz, "neither [Ferrer or Bloomberg] have anything to offer... I supported Bloomberg because I thought he would do a better job, but he defrauded me specially for his actions against the city's elderly and on the issue of education."

The article goes to say that the Reverend "aknowledged that - on social issues - Fernando Ferrer's platform was closer to the interest of the community" and that, due with his disenchantment with Bloomberg, he believes that "Ferrer is the better option and that [the Reverend] has been sharing this sentiment with his organization's clergy."

Let's see if his son's comments to the Post come to fruition.

UPDATES:

• September 30, 2005 - "Fernando Ferrer Bites It"
• October 4, 2005 - "Still Voting for Fernando Ferrer"
• October 4, 2005 - "Bloomberg's lawyers on Gay Marriage"
• October 6, 2005 - "Ferrer: I will withdraw City's appeal to same-sex marriage ruling"
• October 6, 2005 - "LGBT Political Leaders support Ferrer - Photos"
• October 6, 2005 - "Blabbeando in the news"