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WQ4ME Presents Senator Onorato with Petitions |
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 12 June 2009 20:00 |
Note: Photos of the meeting are available below.
Members of Western Queens for Marriage Equality (WQFME) have been working hard to get Senator Onorato to listen to the will of his constituents and support marriage equality. We have organized a rally of 2,500 people; we have written hundreds of letters, made thousands of phone calls, and passed out thousands of flyers. We have protested outside of the Senator’s district office every day during the past week and we will continue to protest until the Senator announces that he unequivocally supports equality.
Three members of WQFME, Jeremiah Frei-Pearson, Kristen Plylar-Moore and Brendan Fay, met with Senator Onorato on Friday afternoon. Jeremiah Frei-Pearson presented a petition to Senator Onorato and said: “This petition is the voice of the people you represent. Thousands of your constituents have signed it and they are all asking you to support marriage equality. We ask you to vote for equal rights.”
 Senator Onorato said he supported civil unions, but he could not support equal marriage. The Senator stated that his opposition to marriage equality was not motivated by religion because he was not deeply religious. He said he did want to discriminate, but his hesitance to support marriage equality came from his “gut.” Frei-Pearson, Fay and Plylar-Moore urged the Senator to reconsider. Senator Onorato publicly called for the Senate to have a vote on the issue and he promised that he would use his influence to urge the Senate leadership to bring the marriage equality bill to the floor for a vote.
Athena Onorato, the Senator’s wife, also talked with the members of WQFME. Holding up his own Canadian marriage certificate from 2003, Brendan Fay reminded the Senator and his wife that New York recognizes gay marriage, but the state currently forces gay couples to leave the state to get married. “All we want is for New Yorkers to get married in New York. Our cause of civil marriage is about fairness and equal respect for our gay families, our share in the tradition of marriage as well as our common humanity of love.”
Mrs. Onorato told the group that gay New Yorkers could just travel to another state to get married. Kristen Plylar-Moore tearfully responded: “No we can’t.” Kristen explained that her girlfriend has a chronic medical condition which makes travel difficult. Straight New Yorkers don’t have to leave the state to get married, why should gay New Yorkers face this burden?
WQFME is pleased that the Senator committed to working to bring the marriage equality bill to the floor to a vote. We hope that Senator Onorato will listen to the people he represents and ultimately become a full supporter of marriage equality.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 June 2009 08:34 |