➤ TORRES ENDORSEMENT, from p.10
15th Congressional District.
Another candidate, Tomas Ramos,
fi lled out a questionnaire and
sought the club’s support, but did
not show up to the meeting.
Mark-Viverito and Williams
came under fi re during the public
advocate’s race earlier this year
when Gay City News reported that
the two politicians had donated
to anti-LGBTQ Councilmember
Chaim Deutsch despite falsely telling
the club that they had never
“endorsed or fi nancially supported
any candidate for public offi ce or
current elected offi cial with a track
record of working against LGBTQ
equality.”
This time around, Mark-Viverito
owned up to having donated to
those candidates in the past. In
her questionnaire as submitted,
she suprisingly, however, answered
“yes” when asked if she would “in
the future endorse or fi nancially
support any candidate for public
offi ce or elected offi cial with a
track record of working against the
LGBT community.” Gay City News
sought to clarify that issue but had
➤ ANDY KING, from p.10
this report, I believe expulsion is
warranted.”
Out gay Brooklyn Councilmember
Carlos Menchaca joined Van
Bramer, as did 10 others, though
the expulsion vote faltered by a 34-
12 margin, with Brooklyn Councilmember
Mathieu Eugene being
the lone abstention. Two other
members of the LGBT Caucus,
Speaker Corey Johnson and Bronx
Councilmember Ritchie Torres,
said they opposed the expulsion
measure out of respect for the recommendations
presented by the
committee. Torres still ripped King,
saying that he resents his “Trumpian
insinuation” that he is somehow
the victim of a witch hunt, and
Johnson last week called for King’s
resignation .
In his remarks, King denied the
allegations of homophobia, strongly
rejected the charges presented
by the committee, and boasted of
the goodwill he says he enjoys with
his staff and others.
That didn’t sway any of his colleagues.
The vote to suspend King
was expectedly lopsided: He was
not heard back from Mark-Viverito
or her campaign by the deadline
explained in the request for comment.
Subsequent to the original
posting of this article, her campaign
clarifi ed that the question
had been inadvertently answered
incorrectly and that the former
speaker would not give such fi nancial
support. The campaign used
the opportunity of making that
clarifi caiton to emphasize Mark-
Viverito’s “consistent and unwavering
advocate for the LGBTQ community”
throughout her career.
Among other issues addressed in
the questionnaire, all candidates
notably vowed to stand up for the
rights of sex workers in their fi ght
to decriminalize the sex trade.
The 31-year-old Bronx lawmaker
expressed his gratitude to the club
for standing with him in the race.
“Proud to receive the endorsement
of @SDNYC in the #NY15
race,” he said in a tweet. “Together,
we will fi ght for equality for the
#LGBTQ community across our
country. Our rights are under attack
by @realDonaldTrump but
I will always be a fi ghter for our
community in Congress.”
the only member present to vote
against the resolution, while Councilmembers
Inez Barron of Brooklyn
and Daneek Miller of Queens
abstained. Homophobic Bronx
Councilmember Ruben Diaz, Sr.,
was among four lawmakers who
were absent.
Under other terms of the resolution,
King will be stripped of all
committee assignments and his
aides who were terminated from
his staff will be able to resume
their old jobs. King’s wife, Neva
Shillingford-King, will be barred
from attending staff meetings, giving
directions to the councilmember’s
staff, or using Council funds
for non-Council business after
she was accused of wrongdoing
in the committee’s report — steering
funds to Local 1199, the union
where she works. In accordance
with the committee’s recommendations,
King will also be forced to
undergo “appropriate training.”
According to the report, the
committee could reopen disciplinary
proceedings if King does not
comply with the recommendations
or follow directives issued by the
monitor.
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