POLITICS
Torres Steps Up Attacks on “Trump Republican” Diaz
Gay lawmaker sounds alarm about anti-LGBTQ opponent in NY-15 congressional race
BY MATT TRACY
Out gay Bronx Councilmember
Ritchie Torres
is taking fresh shots
at his homophobic opponent
and City Council colleague
Ruben Diaz, Sr., with just weeks to
go until the wide open Democratic
primary election in the 15th Congressional
District.
During a May 12 discussion
about the campaign with the LGBTQ
Victory Fund, which works to
elect queer candidates across the
country, Torres warned that Diaz
is “arguably” the “frontrunner” in
the race and, if elected, would ride
the coattails of a Trumpian rightwing
agenda all the way to Capitol
Hill.
Torres described the 77-year-old
Diaz as “the leading homophobe
in elected offi ce in New York State”
and pointed to his history of anti-
Out gay Bronx City Councilmember Ritchie Torres has his eyes set on Capitol Hill — but fi rst he has to
defeat his homophobic colleague Ruben Diaz, Sr.
LGBTQ rhetoric and actions such
as his fi erce opposition to samesex
marriage during his time in
the State Senate and comments in
NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL/ JOHN MCCARTEN
1994 that the Gay Games in New
York would lead to “an increase in
AIDS cases and to wider acceptance
of homosexuality by young
people.” Torres also cited Diaz’s
comments last year when he said
the City Council was “controlled by
the homosexual community.”
“About a year ago he said the
City Council is controlled by the
gay mafi a,” Torres said before injecting
some humor into the conversation
with Victory Fund political
director Sean Meloy. “As a
card-carrying member of the gay
mafi a, I think that’s the most accurate
thing he has ever said.”
Days after Diaz spewed homophobia
about the City Council,
he defi antly voiced more cringeworthy
comments about LGBTQ
people in a lengthy interview with
Gay City News at his district offi
ce, telling this reporter, “What is
wrong with what I said? That the
gay community has power and
control? Yes, they do!”
➤ TORRES VS. DIAZ, continued on p.5
Unifi ed Progressive Message: Stop Ruben Diaz, Sr.
Nearly a dozen groups warn of Bronx pol’s homophobia, anti-choice views, misogyny
BY MATT TRACY
Nearly a dozen national
political groups — including
LGBTQ, women’s
rights, Latinx, and
Jewish organizations — are uniting
to send a clear message to residents
of the 15th Congressional
District in the South Bronx: Do not
vote for anti-LGBTQ Bronx City
Councilmember Ruben Diaz, Sr.
Planned Parenthood Action
Fund, the LGBTQ Victory Fund,
NARAL Pro-Choice America, the
Latino Victory Fund, the Congressional
Hispanic Caucus BOLD
PAC, Bend the Arc Jewish Action,
the Congressional Progressive
Caucus PAC, the Human Rights
Campaign, Equality PAC, and People
for the American Way sounded
the alarm about the 77-year-old
congressional candidate, pointing
to his history of homophobia and
opposition to reproductive rights.
In a May 15 announcement,
coming just weeks before the June
23 Democratic primary, the organizations
sought to expose Diaz’s
insensitive rhetoric over the years.
Among many examples, the
organizations pointed to times
when Diaz, a Pentecostal minister,
compared abortion rights to
Hitler’s thinking, blasted samesex
marriage, described the City
Council as being “controlled by
the homosexual community,” and
once made a scene during a City
Council sexual harassment training
when he said, “I’m not gonna
rat” if he overheard a staffer sexually
harassing another staffer. The
groups also tore into Diaz for welcoming
Republican Texas Senator
Ted Cruz to the Bronx ahead of the
2016 GOP presidential primary.
“Hitler was pro-choice,” Diaz
said in a May 2012 edition of his
classic “What You Should Know”
newsletter, which he still produces
today as a platform to ramble
about political issues. “He chose
to send the Jews to Auschwitz.
That was not their choice that was
Hitler’s choice… Murderers, assassins,
and criminals are pro-choice.
They choose to put a gun to your
head and take your life.”
The groups also cited Diaz’s
2013 comments about same-sex
marriage when, according to the
Observer, he said, “The majority
is not always right. Two-thousand
years ago the majority chose the
rabbi and rejected Jesus. Now, the
majority are rejecting the Bible
and not choosing Jesus. I know
my conviction and I know I will not
change my view.”
The groups consolidating against
Diaz do not agree on their preferred
candidates in the race for the seat
being vacated by José Serrano
— the LGBTQ Victory Fund has
backed out gay Councilmember
Ritchie Torres, for example, while
the Latino Victory Fund endorsed
former Council Speaker Melissa
Mark-Viverito — but they are putting
aside their differences here.
“This is among the most important
Democratic congressional
primaries of 2020, with voters
deciding between a homophobic
and anti-choice Democrat or candidates
who champion equality
and reproductive rights,” Annise
Parker, president of the LGBTQ
Victory Fund and a former Houston
mayor, said in a written statement
accompanying the groups’
joint announcement. “Throughout
his disgraceful career, Ruben Diaz,
Sr., has used his positions of power
to stigmatize and denigrate his
own constituents because they are
➤ PROGRESSIVE UNITY, continued on p.5
May 21 - June 05, 2 4 020 | GayCityNews.com
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