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LID Pulls Stringer Endorsement, Backs Morales
Brooklyn LGBTQ Democrats change course in mayoral race
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
The Lambda Independent
Democrats of Brooklyn
(LID) pulled their endorsement
of mayoral
candidate Scott Stringer on May
6 and backed Dianne Morales, an
Afro-Latinx former non-profi t executive
who has received two LGBTQ
club endorsements in a matter
of days.
“At LID, we take sexual assault
very seriously,” the club wrote in
a statement on Twitter. “Too many
members of the LGBTQ community
have suffered long and painfully,
often in silence. Thank you to
all the members who participated
in what was, for many, a very diffi
cult but very civil and thoughtful
discussion.”
The endorsement, which came
The Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn (LID) have thrown their support behind Dianne
Morales in the 2021 mayoral race.
just days after Morales landed
the support of the Jim Owles Liberal
Democratic Club, followed an
emergency meeting held on May 6
in response to sexual misconduct
FACEBOOK/DIANNE MORALES
allegations facing Stringer, who
had narrowly edged Morales in the
club’s initial endorsement meeting
earlier this year.
Last month, Jean Kim, a former
colleague who served on Stringer’s
campaign for Public Advocate in
2001, accused him of groping her
and pursuing a sexual relationship
— claims that Stringer has denied.
During the club’s May 6 meeting,
several LID members revealed their
experiences of sexual assault.
“We had more members who are
survivors of this than I would have
thought,” Jared Arader, the club’s
president, told Gay City News in a
phone interview. “The club made
the right decision based on where so
many of the members are on this issue
and what their experiences are.”
“People are impressed by Morales’
progressive, new energy that
she brings to the race and would
bring to the city,” Arader said.
Like other clubs, LID’s voting
tally on both issues is not publicly
available.
Members Quit as Stonewall Dems Stand By Stringer
Club fails to get two-thirds majority to overturn endorsement
BY MATT TRACY
Several members of the
Stonewall Democratic
Club of New York City quit
in disgust after the club
voted to uphold its endorsement of
mayoral candidate Scott Stringer.
The club held an emergency vote
on May 5 to ask members whether
they wanted to pull the endorsement
of Stringer in the face of sexual
misconduct allegations. In order
to rescind the endorsement, however,
the club needed two-thirds of
its members to agree — and that
didn’t happen.
“It was a very close vote, with
one vote making the difference,
and I know that many are disappointed
The Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City endorsed Scott Stringer last month.
in the result,” the club, led
by president Rose Christ, said in a
written statement on May 6.
Brian Romero, who previously
served as the club’s president, swiftly
FLICKR/ CITY COMPTROLLER SCOTT STRINGER
announced his departure from
the club minutes after the club announced
the results of the vote.
“I resign as Exec VP of @SDNYC,”
Romero said in a tweet. “I began
my activism in LGBT rights over 10
years ago for equity and justice. I
believe survivors. I believe women. I
won’t enable the upholding of white
cispatriarchy which harms so many
each day. Jean, myself, and others
like us deserve better.”
Others who left the club included
District Leader John Blasco of
Manhattan, City Council candidate
Chris Sosa, and attorney Alejandra
Caraballo, who, along with Romero,
are all backing the mayoral campaign
of Dianne Morales.
“This decision is infuriating and
it moves us back in the work that
many have done for justice,” Blasco,
who formerly served as City Council
Speaker Corey Johnson’s LGBTQ liaison,
wrote on Twitter.
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