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Domestic Partners Bill -- Quashed In Court


New York's highest court handed Mayor Michael Bloomberg a Valentine on February 14 -- and took it away from domestic partners -- ruling four to three that the mayor was within his rights not to enforce the City Council’s Equal Benefits Law.

The ruling by the Court of Appeals is a setback not just for people in such partnerships, but for the New York City Council's ability to use the power of the purse for social justice. What’s more, it may significantly limit the council’s right to pass laws that the mayor contends run afoul of state and federal laws.

Domestic partners, gay and straight, have been able to register with the city since 1991, and employees of the city government have been entitled to benefits for their domestic partners since Mayor David Dinkins settled a court case in 1993. While many private companies provide domestic partner benefits to their workers as a way to be fair and competitive, they are not required to do so under city law.

The City Council tried to broaden the number of private firms providing such benefits by passing Councilmember Christine Quinn’s Equal Benefits Law in 2004, overriding a veto by Mayor Bloomberg to enact it. The law requires contractors who do more than $100,000 worth of business with the city to treat the domestic partners of employees the same as spouses in the provision of benefits.

The mayor challenged the validity of the law and refused to enforce it. While city contracts are full of requirements on everything from paying a living wage (a bill he signed) to complying with the city’s human rights law, Bloomberg has said repeatedly that on principle and under the law, the procurement process should not be used to “advance social causes.” Last June, he even went so far as to say that the city should not have used it to fight apartheid in South Africa.

Bloomberg has also criticized the practice of using the city’s shareholder power to advance social causes, a leading activity of City Comptroller William Thompson. The mayor has nevertheless not stopped his Finance Commissioner, Martha Stark, from continuing to collaborate with Thompson on these shareholder resolutions in her capacity as head of the City Employees’ Retirement System and the Teachers’ Retirement System.

In October 2004, Matt Foreman, director of the National Lesbian and Gay Task Force, who once called the Equal Benefits Law the most important piece of gay legislation in the state, resigned his position on the City Human Rights Commission to protest Bloomberg’s obstruction of the law. Late last year, Foreman returned to the commission at the mayor’s request.

The Court of Appeals majority decision (in pdf format) said, “Where a local law seems to conflict with a state or federal one, the mayor’s obligation is to obey the latter, as the mayor has done here.” The city’s Corporation Counsel had argued that the Equal Benefits Law violated the state Municipal Home Rule Law and federal insurance laws.

Stephen Holley, the City Council’s attorney, told the AP, “I find it remarkable that the mayor can ignore a law passed over his veto. It’s a close call we lost. It’s unfortunate.”

Alan Van Capelle, director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, the gay lobby, said, “New York City is underwriting discrimination. [The] ruling does not say that this practice is not happening or render any opinion about whether it is right or wrong. It just says the Equal Benefits Bill is not the mechanism to correct it."

Christine Quinn, now the Speaker of the City Council, told the New York Times, “What this says is if the mayor disregards our law, I have to sue first...” She has vowed to revive the law both through legislative action in Albany and asking the court for a re-hearing of the case. Similar laws in other localities from San Francisco to Portland, Maine have been upheld in whole or in part by state and federal courts. She called the ruling of New York’s court “disappointing and flawed.”

She has said in the past that she will also look into compelling the mayor to enforce the Dignity in All Schools Act, an anti-bullying law that he has termed “illegal” and “silly.”

The fight over domestic partner rights would be rendered moot for the most part if lesbian and gay couples had the right to marry. Bloomberg has been successful in stopping that from taking place in the city, getting the Appellate Division to overturn in December a lower court ruling that he had to open marriage to same-sex couples. The case is now being appealed by Lambda Legal Defense to the Court of Appeals and Bloomberg has said--perversely in light of the resources he has expended fighting it--that he “hopes” he loses the constitutional arguments before the high court.

Andy Humm, a former member of the City Commission on Human Rights, has been in charge of the civil rights topic page since its inception in 2001. He is co-host of the weekly "Gay USA" on Manhattan Neighborhood Network (34 on Time-Warner; 107 on RCN) on Thursdays at 11 PM. 

The DREAM Act and Immigrant Youth


Most college students look toward graduation with a sense of excitement and new possibilities, but for 21-year-old Angie, an honors student at a private Christian college in New York, it is with heightened anxiety and uncertainty that she begins her final semester of college in January.

“I’m worried; I don’t know what’s going to happen after graduation,” says Angie, who asked that her last name not be used.

Angie’s worries are rooted in more than post-adolescent angst. She and her parents are Colombian immigrants who came to this country nearly 20 years ago on tourist visas, when she was three years old, and for a variety of reasons, remained here after their visas had expired.

“My father decided to bring me and my mom here in order to find better opportunities and to escape the guerilla war that was going on. Anything was better than living in Colombia at that time."

Angie’s father started as a gas station attendant in 1987 and has worked his way up to owning and operating a successful cleaning business. He bought his family a house in the suburbs and pays his fair share of taxes. “My dad thought it was going to be easy to get legal status here,” says Angie, “but it hasn’t worked out that way.”

She is fortunate in that her father’s hard work has made it possible for her to afford college. But now, with graduation nearing, she is facing extremely limited prospects because of her lack of immigration status. Graduate school is out of the question for financial reasons. As for job prospects, they are bleak: despite her 3.6 grade point average, she will be shut out from lawful employment in the United States. And, as always, there looms the threat of deportation if she is ever found in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Such stories have prompted efforts to pass federal legislation that would grant lawful permanent residency -- “green cards” -- to the estimated 65,000 undocumented immigrant youth who graduate from U.S. high schools each year, on the condition that they complete at least two years of college or military service. The legislation, known as the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act (S.2075), also would eliminate restrictions on a state’s ability to provide in-state tuition to state residents without regard to immigration status.

To qualify for relief under the DREAM Act, students must have come to the United States at least five years ago and must have been under age 16 at the time they entered the country. These students would qualify for conditional permanent resident status upon acceptance to college, graduation from high school, or award of a GED certificate. Conditional permanent resident status would be granted for six years, after which the students must petition to have the conditions removed. During the six years, students must graduate from college or accrue at least two years of higher education or military service.

The DREAM Act would create a powerful incentive for young people to succeed in their education and stay out of trouble, and immigrant advocates believe this bill should be a no-brainer. For the past four years, however, despite broad bipartisan support, the DREAM Act has repeatedly been prevented from going to a vote by the House and Senate leaders.

The bill was reintroduced in Congress on November 18, 2005 by Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), and Richard Lugar (R-IL). The re-introduction of the DREAM Act comes at a time when the broader immigration debate has become increasingly politicized and contentious. Young persons who are eager to attend college or join the workforce, however, should not be stuck in limbo until Congress resolves every controversial immigration issue, say immigrant advocates. Though the fate of the DREAM Act remains uncertain, advocates are hopeful that Congress will take these young people off the immigration battlefield.

Norman Eng is a lawyer and policy associate with The New York Immigration Coalition who writes on immigration policy for that organization.  

Christine Quinn and Gay Rights in NYC


When Christine Quinn was elected by her colleagues to be the Speaker of the New York City Council, much was made of her being the first woman and the first openly gay person to assume the office. The New York Post ran a picture of her marching in the Gay Pride Parade from six years ago. She herself declared in her speech in the council chambers that she was “incredibly proud that in the most diverse city in the world, diversity is seen as a strength, not an impediment."

It is true that all previous leaders of the council have been white men, ostensibly all straight. It is also true that many previous opponents of gay rights and women’s rights were there at City Hall for her election, joining the standing ovation. It’s understandable why some would see this as an unmitigated triumph: It was just a decade ago, after all, when Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari could pronounce candidate Karen Burstein “unfit” for the office of State Attorney General because she was “an admitted lesbian” – and the only person to suffer any repercussions from the remark was Burstein, who lost the election.

But, while the elevation of the first woman and the first gay person to what many call “the second most powerful office in New York” (after only the mayor) is certainly a breakthrough, it is also a reminder that this city has lagged behind others in advancing both women and gay issues and candidates.

Women Office-Holders And Women’s Rights

Only three women have held citywide office in New York City. Carol Bellamy was city council president from 1978 to 1985. That post evolved into the office of public advocate, a position now held by Betsy Gotbaum. Elizabeth Holtzman , a former Congresswoman best known for serving on the House Watergate committee and now an attorney in private practice, served one term as city comptroller from 1990 to 1994.

No woman has ever been mayor of New York, though there are 178 women mayors in American cities as large as Dallas, Cleveland and Atlanta.

Of the 51 members of the New York City Council, 16 are women – up one from last year.

While the city has long banned discrimination on the basis of gender, New York voters defeated a referendum on adding an Equal Rights Amendment to the state constitution in the 1970s. It still does not have one.

Gay Office-Holders

Out-of-the-closet gays and lesbians are relatively rare in New York politics, but there have been sightings as long ago as three decades. Ken Sherrill , a political science professor at Hunter College, became the first out gay elected official in city history in 1977 when he was elected a Democratic district leader. Deborah Glick , an out lesbian, won the Assembly seat from Greenwich Village in 1990 and is still serving in Albany. Thomas K. Duane of Chelsea was the first out gay city council member, elected in 1991 with Christine Quinn as his campaign manager and first chief of staff. When Duane moved on to Albany to become the first out gay State Senator in 1999, Quinn succeeded him in the Council.

There have been a smattering of gay commissioners in every administration going back to the Lindsay administration (though Lindsay’s health commissioner, Dr. Howard Brown, did not come out until after he left office, when he founded the National Gay Task Force in 1973, making front page news.)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has out lesbians in Finance Commissioner Martha Stark, and Human Resources Administration Commissioner Verna Eggleston , both of whom are African American as well. Among Bloomberg’s Human Rights Commissioners is Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

As for the City Council, with both Phil Reed and Margarita Lopez no longer council members thanks to term limits, Quinn now has only one colleague who is openly gay, newly elected Councilmember Rosie Mendez, representing the Lower East Side.

Gay Rights In The Past

For all the visibility of New York City as the center of gay life – and the home of the Stonewall Rebellion of 1969, which sparked the modern gay rights movement – the city has lagged behind many others in implementing gay rights.

It did not pass a bill banning discrimination based on sexual orientation until 1986, long after cities such as Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Minneapolis had.

Ironically or not, the “gay rights bill,” as it was known, was thwarted by one of Quinn’s predecessors, Tom Cuite of Brooklyn, whose official titles then were majority leader and vice chair (this was before the position was renamed Speaker). When Mayor Ed Koch, a supporter of the bill, would raise the issue in meetings, Cuite would stand up and walk out of the room. Cuite kept it bottled up in committee for 12 years.

Cuite was succeeded by Peter Vallone, Sr. of Astoria, Queens, also an opponent of the gay bill. Vallone appeared at a rally against the bill where Catholic Bishop Patrick Ahern declared, “Homosexuals not only should not make love because it is immoral, they cannot make love because it is impossible.”

In his new memoir, “Learning to Govern,” Vallone writes, “Although I voted against the bill, I instructed the committee 'to vote their consciences...'...I later came to understand and agree that the law was necessary for its value as a tool to prevent bias and violence against differences in sexual orientation--not as a lifestyle endorsement....My vote was no, but my heart said yes...”

People grow and change on both sides of this issue that has vexed New York. At Quinn’s election as Speaker, Vallone sat in the front row and blew her a kiss as she paid tribute to him. She also praised Queens Democratic Leader Thomas Manton , arguably the key to her victory as Speaker. As a council member, Manton voted against gay rights; eventually, though, as a member of Congress he became a sponsor of the federal gay rights bill (which is still a bill, not a law).

Gay Rights In The Future

Quinn’s victory does not mean that the fight for gay rights is over in New York. She cannot legally marry her partner, attorney Kim Catullo, in the city because Mayor Bloomberg successfully overturned a February 2005 ruling ordering him to begin issuing licenses to same-sex couples. While California's legislature became the first such body in America to pass a same-sex marriage bill in 2005 (only to have it vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger), a New York City Council resolution to support the right of gay people to marry never got a vote even under the pro-gay marriage leadership of Quinn's immediate predecessor, Speaker Gifford Miller.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and especially transgendered people still suffer disproportionately from such life-threatening problems as AIDS and homelessness.

Quinn’s 2004 Equal Benefits Law, requiring contractors with the city to give domestic partners of their employees the same benefits as they give spouses, is also being thwarted in court by Bloomberg, threatening to strip the council of its power to use the procurement process to advance social goals in general. And an anti-bullying law , also deemed “illegal” by Bloomberg, at least points up the fact that kids perceived to be gay or transgendered can experience school as a hell--so much so that the city has provided the Harvey Milk School as a segregated refuge rather than deal with the endemic problem in the schools.

January 4, 2005 may go down in the history books as the opening of another door in New York with the election of Christine Quinn as Speaker. But her colleagues and political experts will tell you she won the post because they like her personally, admire her work, and believe she can help them get their jobs done. "She knows how to get bills passed and enable her colleagues to get bills passed," said Sherrill, the political scientist. "In a functioning legislature, people achieve positions of leadership because they enable their colleagues to advance their careers."

If gay people are rooting for Quinn, so too are her council colleagues, though perhaps for different reasons.

Andy Humm, a former member of the City Commission on Human Rights, has been in charge of the civil rights topic page since its inception in 2001. He is co-host of the weekly "Gay USA" on Manhattan Neighborhood Network (34 on Time-Warner; 107 on RCN) on Thursdays at 11 PM.  



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