I was a little confused and, frankly, scared when I read the news yesterday that Mayor Bloomberg requested an expedited appeal directly to the state's highest court of the decision on Friday in Manhattan that gays must be allowed to marry. He announced the City's intention to appeal in a sidewalk press conference in Chinatown yesterday (it's Chinese New Year, almost).
This morning I wake up to find that Bloomberg was a guest speaker at the Human Rights Campaign dinner at the Waldorf Astoria last night. He also spoke at the Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee's winter dance in Astoria last night.
He was heckled at both events.
More after the jump.
According to the
Newsday article,
Mayor Michael Bloomberg faced cries of "Liar!" and "Let us marry!" last night at the Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee's winter dance in Astoria, hours after he said the city will appeal a Manhattan state judge's ruling that allowed for same-sex marriage.
Bloomberg, who was making remarks at the event, asked the hecklers to let him finish speaking, saying he is on their side.
"Do you have any civility whatsoever?" the mayor asked John Winkleman, 37, of Sunnyside, who works as a waiter and is a member of the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City.
Winkleman replied, "You don't! Why should I? You hurt us."
I couldn't agree more. They're keepin' it mighty real in Queens.
Next we find our Mayor speaking in front of HRC at its annual dinner at the Waldorf. The Times reports,
With New York's highest court now likely to face an issue that has proved its political potency around the country,
Mr. Bloomberg said he personally favored gay marriage. It was the first time, according to his aides, that he has so clearly stated his position in public.
He went further last night at a dinner held by the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group, where he told the guests at the Waldorf-Astoria that he would "work with you to change the law" in Albany if the lower court ruling - which he called "something to celebrate" - was struck down.
"I think people have the right to love, to live with and to marry whoever they want, regardless of their sexual orientation," the mayor said as hundreds of guests stood and cheered.
Later, the same audience booed Mr. Bloomberg when he said once again that the city would appeal Friday's ruling by Justice Doris Ling-Cohan, who found that the state's Domestic Relations Law violated New York's constitutional guarantee of equal protection and due process.
In his remarks in Chinatown, the mayor said city lawyers had told him that the ruling "was incorrect, that the current state Constitution does not permit same-sex marriages."
If I take him at his word and he really supports gay marriage, then perhaps this appeal is meant to settle the question statewide. Mostly I think he's looking to pass a political hot potato. He has said elsewhere that he doesn't want Manhattan to be like San Francisco last year, with thousands of people flocking to the city to marry. That would be a campaign headache for him of enormous proportions.
Sigh.
I don't know what's going to happen here. On the one hand, I think the trial court decision is well-written and is going to be very difficult to overturn. On the other hand, the Court of Appeals has become more conservative over the last few years because Pataki, the court jester of governors, has made several appointments. So who knows what will happen.
Anyone else have any thoughts??