Supporters of New York's Empire State Agenda bussed it up to Albany today to lobby their legislators to support gay rights measures.

[We are] traveling to Albany to help win marriage equality, transgender non-discrimination protections, safe schools for LGBT youth, and more funding for our community’s health and human services needs.

Last year we brought more than 1100 people from all across New York to make sure that our elected officials in Albany saw first hand the power and determination of our community and our allies. This year will be even bigger!

We couldn't be there, unfortunately, but we're more than happy to pass along the gay non-profit's video, Lobbying Your Legislator. More informative instructions can be found here. There's nothing sexier than activism. Okay, that may not be true, but activism definitely gets points in our books.

Governor Eliot Spitzer's resignation rocked Albany this week. And, as we've mentioned, gay rights organizations have been busy congratulating incoming Governor David Paterson, a longtime ally.

Certainly Paterson will work closely with gay rights organizations, but how does a gay non-profit really cope with such a massive political shift, especially after endorsing Eliot Spitzer's gubernatorial campaign? That's but one of the questions our editor posed to Alan Van Capelle, executive director of Empire State Pride Agenda.

As one of New York's largest, most influential gay rights groups, the Pride Agenda had a very intimate relationship with Spitzer, but those days are over.

So, where does the non-profit go from here? What makes Paterson so great? How can we define a gay ally? And what does Van Capelle think of Spitzer now?

Find out, after the jump…

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Rudy Giuliani's about to have a flaming flashback! Gay group Empire State Pride Agenda has compiled an extensive collection of the Republican's homo-loving past, including this footage of Giuliani at the non-profit's 2001 fall dinner.

In addition to telling the crowd that the then-NYC mayor would appear on Queer As Folk to raise pro-gay dough, co-chair Jeff Soref reminds them that Giuliani spent some time in drag. Not a good look for social conservatives, to say the least.

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A big congratulations to our friend Alan Van Capelle of The Empire State Pride Agenda.

The charming Queens College graduate made an honest man this weekend of long-time honey, Matthew Morningstar, a litigator for Morgan Stanley.

Now that they've made it official, the boys are gunning for the Empire State's cutest couple title. Their odds are pretty good.

The New York-centric do gooders over at the Empire State Pride Agenda invited us to their fall dinner last night. Never ones to give up a free meal and a room full of attractive gentlemen - and others! - we accepted their kind invitation. So did our camera man, Zach Golden, who trailed our editor as he talked politics with Alan Cumming, Ted Allen and the ultra-handsome Cheyenne Jackson, who must be 8,000 feet tall.

Christopher Meloni and Mary-Louise Parker were meant to be there, but they weren't. Oh well.

Author and activist David Mixner delivered a rousing, emotional speech in which he described gays as "a magnificent community". The Empire State Pride Agenda dinner proved that.

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Yesterday, we reported that New Rochelle's Cosi had crumbled under gaycist pressure and took down the Empire State Pride Agenda-sponsored "This Family" photo exhibit. The traveling show, you may recall, hopes to raises awareness for gay marriage. Well, you guys deserve a round of applause, for Cosi has now crumbled under gay pressure and revered their decision to take down the show. Empire State Pride Agenda had this to say:

Due to your emails to Cosi’s corporate offices in Chicago and a planned rally at noontime outside of Cosi in New Rochelle, Cosi today reversed its earlier decision to take down the LGBT Family Photo Album pages on display in the restaurant.

We commend Cosi restaurants for re-evaluating its decision and deciding to adhere to the terms of it signed contract to keep the exhibit up for one month. We thank all of you who contacted Cosi corporate to let them know about your unhappiness with their initial decision and we thank our local partner, The LOFT (the LGBT community center of the lower Hudson Valley) for all the work they did turning out local supporters.

…After morning negotiations between the Pride Agenda and Cosi representatives resulted in a reversal of their decision, we were very happy to be able to turn the rally into an occasion to thank Cosi for changing its mind.

Well done, readers. Now, write to Cosi and thank them.

We've included the entire Empire State Pride Agenda message, after the jump…

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The Empire State Pride Agenda, one of the country’s important gay lobbying groups, will hold its annual Fall Dinner on October 6th at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers. A VIP reception will be held at 6p.m. with the dinner and a live auction to follow at 8. Donors at the VIP level will have a chance to rub shoulders with celebs such as keynote speaker Al Franken, emcees Mario Cantone and Gina Gershon, entertainer Rufus Wainwright and special guests Randy Harrison and Billy Porter. You can purchase passes to the Fall Dinner here.

Meanwhile, if you can’t make the dinner, you might bookmark the ESPA website. A good resource for keeping abreast of advances and setbacks in gay rights, the site also allows you to volunteer for the organization. You can, furthermore, contact them through the site to arrange for a speaker to appear at an event you might be planning. Queerty joins you in wondering why they’re called rights if the right doesn’t want you to have them.