For more than 25 years, New York’s LGBTQI community has supported candidates for public office who demonstrate a commitment to supporting the issues important to our community. In a time when transgender rights are under attack, when a major political party has adopted the most anti-LGBTQI party platform ever, and when one of our safe spaces in Orlando has become the site of unthinkable violence, we must stand by our friends running for office. Equality NY PAC is an all-volunteer effort to continue the tradition of supporting pro-LGBTQI candidates across New York so that we can continue to move this great state forward to support and protect all LGBTQI people.
Download a printable guide to take to the ballot box!
In consultation with a cross-section of LGBTQI leaders from across the state, we have done our best to evaluate the voting records and publicly available information of candidates running for public office in New York State. We considered a variety of criteria:
support for LGBTQI civil rights, especially transgender rights;
opposition to conversion therapy;
support for LGBTQI aging issues;
a commitment to combat youth homelessness;
support for efforts to end the AIDS epidemic;
support for funding of organizations that serve the needs of our community; and
support for securing LGBTQI families.
We also evaluated candidates based on their positions on other social justice issues such as immigrant rights, women’s rights, and sensible gun control laws, and whether a candidate had been endorsed by other LGBTQI groups. While candidates did not have to meet all criteria, their records needed to demonstrate an outstanding commitment to our community, and all candidates were required at minimum to demonstrate support for transgender rights in order to be eligible for endorsement.
This year’s process for selecting candidates, admittedly, was not perfect. Given the time constraints, we were unable to use candidate questionnaires or do outreach to all candidates running for office in New York State. Nor could we possibly solicit input from every single LGBTQI leader in New York whose perspectives we value.
In certain races, the PAC decided to remain neutral either because consensus could not be reached or not enough information could be found to make a determination.
A goal for the next election cycle is to engage more members of the community, work with them to clarify the community’s priorities, and design a candidate questionnaire that can serve as the basis for evaluating candidates for endorsement. This is a work in progress, and we welcome community feedback in this and future elections.
In the box to the right you will find the candidates in NYS who most deserve the votes and financial resources of New York’s LGBTQI community.
Find out which ones are on your ballot by clicking HERE. To be notified please enter your information here:
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EQNY’s 2016 Endorsements:
Select a list below to find out more about each candidate we’re endorsing. Or download the list of names to bring with you to the ballot box.
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