last call

Alan Van Cappelle’s Final Act: Going After New York’s Gay State Sen. Thomas Duane

Lest anyone think Alan Van Cappelle, the Empire State Pride Agenda executive director, is leaving his post with a failed gay marriage vote as his parting song, the group’s seven-year veteran is going on the attack one last time. And it’s aimed at State Sen. Thomas Duane. Who’s A Gay.

Van Cappelle has attacked Duane before; last year, during a ESPA dinner, he called out the senator for failing to make good on his promise to usher the marriage bill to a full vote. And now Van Cappelle says, in an email to the organization’s members, that voters must once again lobby Duane on the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), which would provide housing and employment protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill was passed by New York’s Assembly; it stalled in the Senate.

And that delay is Duane’s fault. The Post relays: “In an email missive aimed for wide distribution sent by a top ESPA official, the group paints Duane, the lone openly gay state senator, as the major holdup on passing the GENDA bill — suggesting as lead sponsor he is refusing to recraft some language to move it to a committee where it could get enough votes to move forward.”

ESPA has gone after Duane on this bill before; last year, ESPA also called on supporters to call Duane’s office. Which means Van Cappelle isn’t really doing anything out of the ordinary as he makes his transition from ESPA’s head chair. Really, it’s just business as usual.

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