Mike Bloomberg, Jean Moutoussamy-Ashe Star In NY Gay Marriage Ads
PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 04, 2010
New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Jean Moutoussamy-Ashe appear
in new ads supporting gay marriage in New York.
The ads, backed by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's
largest gay advocate, feature prominent celebrities and politicians urging
New Yorkers to join the campaign for gay marriage.
“My late husband, Arthur Ashe, and I fought discrimination throughout our
lives,” Moutoussamy-Ashe, the widow of tennis great Arthur Ashe, says in
one video. “I know that he would support marriage equality.” (The video is embedded in the right panel on this page.)
In his ad, Bloomberg says he supports gay marriage because “government shouldn't tell you who to love or who to marry.”
An effort last year to legalize gay marriage failed in the New York Senate
after passage in the Assembly.
This year, gay marriage proponents have taken on the task of ousting senators who voted against the measure. The group Fight Back New York has
already taken out two of its marks. Hiram Monserrate was defeated in
a special election held in March and primary voters overwhelmingly
picked Tim Kennedy, a pro-gay marriage candidate, over incumbent Bill Stachowski. The group is currently taking aim at New York State Senator
Ruben Diaz Sr., the Senate's most vocal opponent of gay marriage.
HRC's Brian V. Ellner, who is in charge of the group's push for gay
marriage in New York, told the New York Times that the group wants
to build momentum on the issue now, well ahead of a hoped-for vote
next year.
“We want to build excitement and momentum in advance of that,”
Ellner said.
BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF
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