[Fredslist] Proud to Be a New Yorker

[Phyllis Weiss Haserot]

I am proud to be  New Yorker too, though the the legislation doesn't  
affect me as directly.  It affects my sense of right, of fairness, and  
happiness for treatment of good friends. I felt a thrill and pride  
when I woke up Saturday morning to see the headline.
Phyllis


From: "Christopher Lamal" <clamal at lamal-law.com>
Date: June 26, 2011 6:29:25 AM EDT
To: "'Freds List'" <fredslist at gothamnetworking.com>
Subject: [Fredslist] Proud To Be a New Yorker


Purely by circumstance, I happened to watch the NY State Senate vote  
on marriage equality on TV Friday night.  I am surprised about how  
emotional I got.  I have no thought or desire of ever marrying, but I  
found myself crying when the Republican-controlled NY Senate approved  
the bill.

I grew up in the land of Hiawatha, in the northwoods of Wisconsin  
right on the shores of Lake Superior.  Until recently, I was proud to  
tell people I was from Wisconsin, a state known for its progressive  
politics (where the Republican Party was founded in the time of  
Lincoln, the home of the progressive Bull Moose Party and US Senator  
“Fighting Bob” LaFollette, the first state to elect an openly gay  
woman to the US Congress and the first state to allow state employees  
to engage in collective bargaining, etc.).  Wisconsin also had the  
reputation and record of clean, uncorrupted government.

In light of what’s happened in Wisconsin in just the past year,  
however, I just don’t feel that much pride anymore.  The legislature  
in Wisconsin voted to repeal almost all collective bargaining rights  
for state employees, and political campaigns in the state have now  
become infected by huge corporate “donations”.

Against that background, I’ll just observe that each of us wants to  
take some pride in where we have come from or where we have  
established new roots.

And so I gotta tell ‘ya, I feel so proud to be a New Yorker right  
now.  And so appreciative of those NY Republican State Senators in a  
Republican-controlled State Senate who voted in favor of the Marriage  
Equality Act.  The statements they made in explaining their difficult  
votes and why they had changed positions since 2009 were touching.

In several hours the NYC Gay Pride March is set to begin. I live on  
15th Street, less than half a block away from the parade route down  
5th Avenue.  I’ve marched and watched enough of them over the past 30  
years that it normally would not have much interest for me except as a  
stroll-by while walking my dog Jericho (who is mostly bored by the  
march but gets very excited by the horses—at whom he barks and wants  
to chase).

Today, however, is going to be especially memorable as Gov. Andrew  
Cuomo, who pushed and strategized this legislative achievement all the  
way through to success, marches this year.  This was clearly an issue  
about which he felt deeply and in which he used an enormous amount of  
his personal political capital.  They say that normally around 1.5  
million people either march in or are spectators at the parade.   
Today, some authorities are expecting perhaps 2 or 2.5 million  
people.  Jericho and I will be in the crowd, so as to cheer Gov.  
Cuomo, Mayor Mike Bloomberg and those other politicians who helped  
make this historic event happen.

A very proud New Yorker,

Chris Lamal


>
> Phyllis Weiss Haserot
> Practice Development Counsel
> Consulting/Coach to the Next Generation
> Author of "The Rainmaking Machine: Marketing Planning, Strategy and  
> Management for Law Firms" and "The Marketer's Handbook of Tips &  
> Checklists"
>
> * Next Generation, Next Destination*
> * Cross-Generational Conversation*
>
> Voice:: 212-593-1549
> pwhaserot at pdcounsel.com
> please visit: www.pdcounsel.com
> and blog http://www.nextgeneration-nextdestination.com
> Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/pwhaserot
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