Liz Crowley claims her opponent is anti-LGBTQ, but her record is much worse

In our previous post, we cited the Queens Chronicle article about Elizabeth Crowley's candidacy which quoted her as saying her opponent, Robert Holden, has "a record of taking strong anti-woman, anti-LGBTQ stances" because of items published in the Juniper Berry, the newsletter of the Juniper Park Civic Association, of which Holden is president. Let's examine the anti-LGBTQ accusation this time.

We discovered an Op-Ed about gay marriage written by someone else on Juniper's website and also one by the Bishop of Brooklyn, but they are both clearly marked as opinion pieces. Newspapers print various op-eds all the time (like this one from Crowley), it doesn't mean they endorse the positions presented. There also was a letter to the editor printed in support of gay marriage which criticizes one of the original pieces. Basing her "anti-LGBTQ" accusation on this is a bit weak. We found nothing authored by Holden that broached this topic. A Google search came up empty as well.

Now, let's see what Crowley's record reveals.

Crowley denied that she supported gay marriage when asked about it, tried to dodge a question about it and defended taking money from a renowned white supremacist as per her own 2001 interview with the Juniper Berry - the same magazine she cites as proof that her opponent is unqualified for public office.

Q: In the Queens Tribune you said you support gay unions (marriages), can you tell me why?

A: Sigh...That was Frank [Borzellieri]. I never said that, I said equal rights for all people.

Q: Does that mean you do or do not support it?

A: {No comment} I'd rather not discuss this.

Q: Speaking of Frank Borzellieri, knowing his history, do you think you should have accepted his endorsement money?

A: We have only two things in common...same district and same beliefs. 

Q: So you have the same right-wing controversial beliefs as he does?

A: No, but he wants a hard working city council member. We don't agree on all issues.

Q: But that's not what you just said.

(Mr. Borzellieri, as member of the local school board, pushed for the removal of then-teacher Danny Dromm for being openly gay. Crowley's mother, Mary, was president of the District 24 board at the time.)

- In addition, Crowley is the only candidate in this race with a history of OPPOSING gay marriage.

- She lied to get the endorsement of an LGBTQ political club (then hid the fact that they endorsed her by refusing to put their logo on her mailers).

- She completely avoided answering questions from another LGBTQ club.

- Crowley had the most to gain from a mailer put out to disparage a past Democratic opponent for being openly gay which she never denied. She even went so far as to attack then-candidate Tom Ognibene for joining the victim, Charles Ober, in denouncing it and in the same statement called on Ober to drop his bid for office and unite behind her, which is pretty damn arrogant.

- Ober struck back in a press release.

- A strikingly similar flyer was dropped on people's doorsteps the night before the 2001 election that attacked Crowley's only opponent for supporting gay-friendly candidates, among other things, with the last 3 lines thrown in as a lame attempt at a smokescreen:

Voters in the district were not moved by either cowardly smear attempt and she lost both races.

Liz Crowley: Proud supporter of LGBTQ rights!

Since Crowley has spent most of her campaign complaining that her opponent "lacks Democratic values", we're happy to show you what Miss Crowley, a supposed "real Democrat", believes and practices. Bringing up your opponent's alleged anti-LGBTQ history when your own is this shitty is probably not a wise campaign move, Diz.

Why gay groups and self-described "progressives" have lined up to endorse someone who has a documented 16 year history of homophobia is a good question. Why other liberal candidates would seek a female Trump's endorsement is another. It all just proves what a joke Queens politics is.

#Fauxgressive

Addabbo flip-flops over gay marriage

From the Daily News:

When it comes to gay marriage, state Sen. Joseph Addabbo was against it before he was for it — and now he seems to be against it again.

Last year, the Queens Democrat’s position-changing vote helped legalize same-sex marriage.

But now, Addabbo is locked in a tight reelection fight with Republican City Councilman and gay-marriage opponent Eric Ulrich. And the senator recently told the Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance during an endorsement interview that he’d again vote no if given the chance, according to two Jewish publications.

Why? Because his newly redrawn district is suddenly more conservative.

Addabbo, who is Catholic, cast a nay vote that contributed to the death of a gay marriage bill in 2009. After Gov. Cuomo, the Democratic standard-bearer in New York, aggressively pushed the issue after taking office last year, Addabbo changed his position, explaining his shift by saying that he polled the matter in his district and found his constituents supported gay marriage.

Cuomo cited the “courage” Addabbo showed in changing his position when he endorsed the senator earlier this month over Ulrich, a Catholic who once considered entering the priesthood. Addabbo’s pro-gay marriage stance also won him the backing of the Empire State Pride Agenda, the state’s largest gay advocacy group.

But the Legislature redrew Addabbo’s district lines following last year’s gay marriage vote, bringing into his territory more conservative enclaves in Far Rockaway, Kew Gardens and parts of Forest Hills — and leading to his second flip on the issue.

Gay marriage not acceptable to many immigrants

From the NY Times:

Larry Yang, the Korean-American owner of a hardware store next door, said he resented such a public promotion of same-sex marriage. He said many among the large number of Korean-American Christians in Queens felt similarly but feared that if they spoke out they would be demonized by a liberal majority.

The legalization of same-sex marriage in New York State has been embraced by many in the city. But in some neighborhoods heavily populated by immigrants from countries where homosexuality is less accepted, the idea is stirring feelings of unease or, at times, outright disgust.

Sunnyside has been transformed in recent decades, first by immigration, and more recently by urban professionals priced out of Manhattan. As in some other parts of the city, same-sex marriage has laid bare the clash between the social conservatism of many immigrants and the values of the often wealthier and more liberal newcomers to the neighborhood.

Many immigrants in Sunnyside are Muslims from Turkey, where the military, the guardian of the country’s secular state, regards homosexuality as a disorder. On a recent day on 46th Street, a group of men hunched over Turkish newspapers next to a mosque in a part of the neighborhood that includes kebab shops, a Jewish community center, a Romanian restaurant and a Russian hairdresser.

In Flushing, Queens, one of New York’s most polyglot neighborhoods, with one of the largest Asian communities in the country, opponents of same-sex marriage said they had felt sidelined during the debate over it.

...Mr. Yang, the hardware store owner, dismissed the free wedding reception as a cynical ploy.

“It’s a business thing, because a lot of gay people live here,” he said. “I have no problem with my gay customers. But we are Korean. We are conservative. No one says, ‘This gay marriage is a good thing.’ What is this world coming to?”

Did Bloomberg buy Addabbo vote?

From the Daily News:

Mayor Bloomberg apparently did not limit his thank-you contributions to just Republicans who voted for gay marriage.

addabbo.jpgBloomberg also sent a maximum $10,300 donation to state Sen. Joseph Addabbo, a Queens Democrat who flipped from his opposition two years ago and voted last month to legalize same-sex marriages.

A Democratic source confirmed the donation today.

A Bloomberg aide confirmed the mayor donated to Addabbo, but had no further comment.

Is this how leaders are supposed to lead?

From the NY Times:

Mr. Addabbo said that just two years ago, a vast majority of the constituents who contacted his office opposed same-sex marriage. But this year, he said, of the 6,015 people in his district who had written to him or called his office, 4,839 wanted him to vote for it. “In the end, that is my vote,” Mr. Addabbo said.

Doesn't it sound not only implausible that there would be such a shift in the attitudes of his constituents but also asinine to base his vote on how many yay and nay phone calls he received? You're supposed to base your vote on whether or not you believe it's the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do.

Gay activists cause ruckus at Addabbo party

I found this video funny. Not because LGBT activists infiltrated Joe Addabbo's birthday fundraiser to raise hell about his "no" vote on gay marriage, but because

1) They were surprised that he voted no in an overwhelmingly conservative Catholic district
2) They would rather have a Republican in there than Addabbo, who might be persuaded to change his mind down the road
3) They actually think they had something to do with the dumping of Hiram Monserrate
4) They wanted to embarrass Addabbo in front of his father, a former congressman, who they were hoping would be there. (He died in 1986...)

Video found on NBC

Mike needs to get his priorities straight

From the NY Post:

Mayor Bloomberg this week said that getting Albany to pass gay mar riage is the city's "No. 1 priority."

Gee, where does he rank getting the mob out of the Buildings Deparment?

Could it be that the mayor's long-documented devotion to trendy social causes has distracted him from the nuts and bolts of municipal governance?

Let's hope not: The Buildings Department, for one, clearly needs sustained attention.

Kudos, by the way, to DA Robert Morgenthau and his folks -- who've been vigilant in rooting out agency corruption.

But making sure there's less for the DA to find should be the mayor's top priority.

Why so quiet?

From NY1:

Many New Yorkers have strong opinions about gay marriage, but State Senator Hiram Monserrate remains silent on whether he is for or against Governor David Paterson's gay marriage bill. That has some of Monserrate's constituents in East Elmhurst, Queens questioning his leadership.

From NY1:

Constituents wanted to hear what freshman State Senator Joseph Addabbo has to say about gay marriage.

"He needs to make a decision, quick," said one Queens resident. "A lot of people are interested in knowing."

But on Friday they did not know, as Addabbo would not respond to the question of how he would vote on legalizing same-sex marriage in the state.

How not to deal with a constituent

So the story behind this is that an Astoria guy and his mother went to State Senator George Onorato's office and tried to make an appointment with him to discuss gay marriage (they being for it). When they got there, they were told that he would not meet with them at his District Office about the issue but perhaps would in Albany.

No matter how you feel about this particular issue, you have to agree that the Senator's office staff needs some training in public relations.