Newly-appointed U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York
Reports are that New York Gov. David Paterson has chosen Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate. And LGBT rights activists – or at least the ones sending me press releases – are already singing the new senator’s praises.
Here’s the statement from Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle:
“We congratulate Kirsten Gillibrand for being appointed by Gov. Paterson as our new U.S. senator from New York. Finally, the great state of New York has a U.S. senator who supports marriage equality for same-sex couples. Kirsten Gillibrand also supports the full repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act law, repeal of ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ and passage of legislation outlawing discrimination against transgender people. Actions always speak louder than words, and in that spirit, we loook forward to working with her on issues that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community cares so much about.”