Paterson unveils gay marriage bill

(New York City) As expected, New York Gov. David Paterson (D) unveiled legislation Thursday morning to allow same-sex couples to marry in the Empire State.

Standing beside New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R), openly gay Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D) and state leaders and union leaders, Paterson said “Marriage equality is …

Police Charged with False Arrests of Gay Men at Adult Video Stores

Anger is building against the police department in the wake of an increase in arrests of gay men for prostitution at Manhattan adult video stores. Last week, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn joined in the outcry. She said she is working with the mayor’s office and commanders of the police department to set up a meeting that will include gay community groups “to get to the bottom of this.”

The arrests have been documented by Duncan Osborne of the Gay City News over the last several months. Police are allegedly using handsome young undercover cops to cruise middle-aged gay men, offering to go home with them for consensual sex. As they leave the store together, the cop offers to pay the man for the sex, confusing the victims who can’t imagine why the younger man would make such a proposal. Then, as they walk out of the store, the victim, despite never having agreed to any exchange of money, is surrounded by undercover cops, handcuffed and charged with prostitution.

Gay activists and civil libertarians see the arrests as part of a continuing effort to shut down porn operations in the city and a tendency by the police department to criminalize gay sexual behavior.

We need to see [the arrest policy] stopped and to figure out how it started,” Quinn told Gotham Gazette, calling the arrests of gay men “the most egregious I have heard of” going back to her days as executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, which is part of a coalition to stop these arrests. “It’s not even entrapment,” she said. “These are false arrests.”

See Police Charged with False Arrests of Gay Men at Adult Video Stores
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/police-charge…

Quinn’s US Senate Diplomacy

Unlike Mayor Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn didn’t jump to Caroline Kennedy’s defense today when asked if Kennedy had gotten a “raw deal” from Gov. David Paterson during the much-maligned US Senate selection process.

Quinn chose to diplomatically skirt the question, the DN’s Frank Lombardi reports, saying:

“Caroline decided to drop out for personal reasons. I obviously, you know, wish her and her family well as regard to whatever this personal situation is.
“And I think what we all need to do now is get back to work, focus on the large agenda in Washington right now. We’re lucky that we have two senators right now fighting for us in Washington, not one. And we all need to work together and try to make sure that New York gets its appropriate share of the federal stimulus package.

“…So I think the focus now shouldn’t be on the past and what happened; the focus should be on moving forward for the city and state of New York and working with our senators to do that.”

Quinn also confirmed she chatted on the phone with Congresswoman-turned-Senator Kirsten Gillibrand See Quinn’s US Senate Diplomacy
New York Daily News – New York,NY,USA