SDNYC 2021 Special Election Endorsements
On Wednesday evening we held a virtual meeting where we heard from candidates requesting the club endorsement in the Special Elections to fill vacancies in City Council Districts 11, 15, 24, and 31. Below are our endorsement results:
CD 11 - Eric Dinowitz
CD 15 - Elisa Crespo
CD 24 - Jim Gennaro
CD 31 - No Endorsement
The election for District 24 (Queens) is on February 2, the election for District 31 (Queens) is on February 23, and the election for Districts 11 (Bronx) and 15 (Bronx) will be held March 23. Thank you to everyone who participated in the endorsement process and meeting.
SDNYC 2021 Special Election Questionnaires
The following candidates submitted questionnaires to be considered for SDNYC’s endorsement in the 2021 Special Elections:
Eric Dinowitz - District 11
Jessica Haller - District 11
Mino Lora - District 11
Carlton Berkley - District 11
Elisa Crespo - District 15
John Sanchez - District 15
Ischia Bravo - District 15
Troy Blackwell - District 15
Kenny Agosto - District 15
Latchmi Gopal - District 15
Moumita Ahmed - District 24
Neeta Jain - District 24
James F Gennaro - District 24
Shawn Rux - District 31
2021 Elections: Information for Members & Candidates
For 35 years the Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC has played an important part in municipal, state, and federal elections. New York City will be going to the polls again in 2021. In June we will vote for our candidates in New York City elections. In addition, there will be special elections throughout the year. SDNYC will once again:
Question candidates on issues important to the LGBTQ Community.
Present candidates to our membership for endorsement votes.
Support our endorsed candidates in the primaries.
Click here to learn more about our upcoming endorsement meetings.
Reclaiming our History - Stonewall was a RIot
Reclaiming our History - Stonewall was a Riot
George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Tony McDade. Nina Pop. Ahmaud Arbery. These are only some of the names of Black people who have been murdered this year, some from state-sanctioned violence at the hands of police. As our nation has been confronted with these deaths we have become more aware of this nation’s original pandemic: systemic racism. This violence, paired with the well-known racial disparities brought to the surface during the COVID19 public health crisis, has made the direction of the next 50 years of the LGBTQ rights movement more and more clear.
The Stonewall rebellion was a riot. Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera LGBTQ people of color, trans people, gay men, sex workers, and others had had enough. They resisted the criminalization of their bodies and identities, and it gave birth to the movement we celebrate each year. This Pride Month, we are reminded, and in some ways forced, to reclaim the original intent of Pride: to resist like hell.
The Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC stands with all marginalized people, and we are ready to act. In solidarity with Decrim NY, we have called for the passage of the Stop Violence and the Sex Trades Act and the decriminalization of sex work. We continue to call for the Repeal of the #WalkingWhileTrans ban or penal law 240.37, which disproportionately criminalizes Black and Brown cis and trans women. Now we join in solidarity with other organizations in calling for police reform and accountability. New York must pass S3695/A2513 and the Governor should sign into law the repeal of section 50-a of the civil rights law, which shields the disciplinary records of police officers and corrections officers from the public. Now is the time.
Additionally, we ask candidates and elected officials alike to think about the influence of money from police, and corrections unions in politics. While police reform is a necessity for those who claim to stand with the intention behind the #BlackLivesMatter movement, it is also very much an LGBTQ rights issue. As we remember the resistance of our ancestors this Pride Month, we ask that New York City and State enact the bold measures necessary to make us all truly safe and proud.