The Spin:
Michael Bloomberg says he cares about the needs of the LGBT community and has served us well in his past two terms in office.
The Facts:
Bullying in the schools
Michael Bloomberg vetoed the Dignity for All Students Act passed by the City Council in 2004 and refused to implement it when the Council overwhelmingly overrode his veto, calling the bill “silly.” In September 2008 before having to face an election year, Bloomberg rushed an anti-bullying program into place. In a study in June of this year his efforts were condemned as totally inadequate by religious, racial and LGBT groups. Bloomberg perversely now says he supports the state Dignity in All Schools Act, which would compel him to implement a comprehensive anti-bullying program, but still refuses to implement its provisions now as leader and head of the New York City schools.
AIDS education and Condoms in the schools
Michael Bloomberg allowed AIDS education to be weakened, with a watered-down curriculum. Bloomberg continued Rudy Giuliani’s horrendous policy of banning condom lessons in classrooms—life-saving lessons that were common pre-Rudy? AIDS educators were able to use the lessons to demystify condom use and safe sex. It is shocking to see respectable AIDS leaders such as Sean Strub and Dennis de Leon siding with this obstructionist whose school AIDS curriculum was panned by experts as a pathetic political document that does nothing to engage LGBT youth—an outrage when African-American and Latino LGBT youth are most at risk for HIV.
On LGBT Health Care
Michael Bloomberg’s press release claims he created an Office of Gay and Lesbian Health. Uh, that was created under Koch in the early 1980s and dropped under Rudy. Mike’s new health commissioner Thomas Farley wants to close bathhouses. His previous one, Thomas Frieden, wanted to end written consent for HIV testing over the protest of most AIDS activists.
Reproductive Rights
If Bloomberg really supported a women’s right to choose would he bankroll anti-choice Republican legislators? Too bad, NARAL’S misguided leader lesbian Kelli Conlin sees fit to sell out the abortion rights movement by supporting Bloomberg.
27. October 2009 at 9:46 pm
Too bad that AKA William now let’s bitter Democratic operators be a Political Director. Mr. Roskoff obviously has some beef with Mr. Bloomberg, maybe because he worked for Mark Green when he was beaten by Bloomberg.
I guess you can discuss Bloomberg’s support for LGBT issue, I am okay with it, he seems to be quite fair-minded (also in his company by the way).
Democrats should rather explain why we don’t have marriage equality in NY yet, despite the fact that they have the majority in house and senate in Albany. It’s not Mike Bloomberg it’s Democratic politicians that are holding up equality.
But I guess Mr Roskoff is more out to take verbal revenge against Mr. Bloomberg. That plum job in 2001 was just so close…
28. October 2009 at 7:52 am
Thank you, Allen for making it all so clear for me. We need this information and anyone for whom this information is crucially important should take it into account when voting next Tuesday. Bravo! I also note the Bloomberg ad on the website page, and his ads are pasted everywhere. Bloomberg has tried to buy this election. People: Don’t let him do it!
31. October 2009 at 11:03 am
Bloomberg has been consistently and viciously homophobic. No self respecting queer would even seriously think of voting for that bigot.