Fire-and-brimstone New York state senator Ruben Diaz—with his comparisons of homosexuality to drug addiction—held a large anti-gay rally in the Bronx on May 16th. But while he may be the Bronx’s loudest anti-gay voice, but he isn’t the borough’s only voice.
A group of “elected officials and organizations including members of the New Yorkers United for Marriage coalition, [and] local activists” from the Bronx have their own march and rally scheduled for August 7th to show the other face of the Bronx’s battle for marriage equality. The march will “follow the same route that Díaz took through the South Bronx last month,” and then end in a rally in front of the Bronx Borough Courthouse in the South Bronx.
The re-creation of Diaz’s march route and rallying point aren’t just great political theatrics, it also gives a voice to the large segment of Bronx constituents that do support marriage equality:
Indeed, recent surveys suggest that Díaz holds the less popular opinion in the Bronx, a borough where 52% of the population identifies as Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census. A Siena poll from May, which found that a majority of voters statewide support marriage equality, found that among Hispanics and Latinos, support stood at 55% compared to 41% opposed. According to a Williams Institute study, more same-sex couples are raising families in the Bronx than any other borough, adding local urgency to the marriage push.
Hopefully Diaz won’t be too upset about his pro-gay, “drug addict” supporting neighbors copycatting his May rally. After all, imitation is the highest form of flattery.
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hyhybt
That’s good and all, but isn’t August 7th a bit late? I’m pretty sure the session will be over by then.
James
Why don’t the gay people in his family speak out against him?
hyhybt
They do.
Scott Rose
Diaz’s mind is like a safe locked up tight with nothing inside of it. He comes from a particular echelon (cough) of Caribbean society where the Evangelical Christianity has a strong admixture of Santaria-voodoo baloney. When you are sick, do you seek out an M.D. or a Santaria witch doctor? Diaz is the Santaria witch doctor of gay people’s civil rights. Furthermore, he does not speak Spanish as would a well-educated Puerto Rican. His abuses of his native language reveal that same base ignorance and intellectual incuriosity that makes him into such a shameful and revolting adult anti-gay bully. One of the most disturbing aspects of Diaz’s attempts to perpetuate sexual orientation apartheid in New York State is his misappropriation of his official Senate web page as well as of his Senate letterhead to sent out purely Evangelical messages against LGBTers’ rights, messages directed at Evangelicals and nobodyelse. The documentation for Diaz’s misappropriations can be easily discovered on the internet. Diaz is on record as saying “I am Church, and I am state, and I will not be separated.” He is in violation of 74(h) of the elected officials of New York code of ethics. Somebody in a position of authority (such as an Advocate reporter, or State Senator Thomas Duane, who won’t stand up to Diaz in public, because he is afraid of him) should file a complaint and make plain to the ethics committee that the course of the handling of the complaint will be followed up on in the media. Individual citizens filing such a complaint can expect that the complaint will get ignored (particularly as Diaz is powerful, and backed by churches that will pay off the ethics committee).
huh
he is not a Fire-and-brimstone; he is a Democrat
IAbuseGays
@hyhybt: Yes and no. THey speak out then they support him at his events.
And yes, this is one of those situations where the fact he is family is not an excuse for showing up. I am not saying they need to disown him.
I am simply saying don’t show up at anti-gay event endorsing him.
Scott Rose
@huh: Brimstone? He has rocks in his head.
Scott Rose
@IAbuseGays: Diaz’s family members who claim not to support his malignant gay-bashing are selfishly continuing their associations with him, to continue to reap benefits from him through his position of power. They have forgotten utterly all the innocent victims of anti-gay violence in the Bronx . . who take their cues from Diaz. Don’t let anybody tell you differently; the thugs who carry out the violence are working in collusion with the politicians who spew the anti-gay hate. A Mafia Godfather doesn’t carry out the hits. What exactly do you think is meant when a Diaz-endorsed preacher at a Diaz and NOM-sponsored anti-gay hate rally hollers at the ignorant mob that gay people are “worthy to death.” Here’s an experiment for people to try. Remember that gang-like attack against gay people in the Bronx last fall, with some held hostage and tortured? Find one statement that Diaz made about those crimes. Find just one place where, in the wake of those crimes, he pledged to make the Bronx safer for LGBT people. Shame on Diaz’s selfish family members for not telling him “We will communicate with you again when you apologize for your bigotry and commit to LGBT equality.”
robert in NYC
August 7th makes absolutely NO sense. The current state session ends on June 20th, so what’s the point in all this?
ewe
I don’t know what happened but it’s pretty obvious he has a lot of unprocessed shit still goin down with his own brothers. And i for one am not going to be his fucking doormat.
Mike in Asheville
FROM YOUR FIRST SENTENCE: “…Diaz…held a large anti-gay rally in the Bronx on May 16th.”
WRONG WRONG WRONG.
When Diaz held a similar rally during last year’s debate/vote in the New York Senate, he managed to attract over 25,000 fellow wingnut bigots to his rally. A rally organized by Diaz and his office.
This year, just 1 year later, Diaz forms a coalition with NOM and NY Mayday for Marriage, gets free publicity and promotion for the rally from local and national media — including front page editorials supporting the rally in local Spanish newspapers — AND yet, the estimated attendance was 2500!
Diaz, with co-hosts and so much more publicity, got just 10% of the bigots! THAT IS A FAILURE!!!
***************
Very disappointed that the gay media ignored this very important look at the failure — NOT A SUCCESS — the rally truly was.