LGBTQ news and entertainment
The New York state Senate has confirmed Justice Paul G. Feinman to the New York Court of Appeals becoming the first openly gay judge to serve on the state’s highest court.
Feinman spent only an hour before the Senate Judiciary Committee answering what was described as friendly questions before being unanimously approved to the floor of the Senate, where he was confirmed today.
The 57 year-old Mets fan lives with his his husband on Roosevelt Island.
According to Donald Trump, he will be competitive in the general election against Hillary Clinton in their shared home state of New York.
The facts are bearing out a different narrative.
The latest Siena poll shows the former Secretary of State running ahead of Trump 57% vs 27%.
In a four way race, Clinton still holds an impressive 25 point lead.
Right back at you, New York.A photo posted by Hillary Clinton (@hillaryclinton) on Apr 19, 2016 at 8:06pm PDT
According to the Associated Press, it is now mathematically impossible for Sen. Ted Cruz or Gov. John Kasich to get to 1,237 delegates before the Republican convention this summer. Their only path to the nomination is to block Donald Trump and force a contested convention.
Stay tuned.
The latest Emerson poll shows former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with a 15 point lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders in tomorrow’s Democratic New York state primary (55% – 4-%).
Real Clear Politics poll averages show Clinton with an average 12 point lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders.
On the Republican side, Donald Trump leads his rivals with 55% of those polled, versus Gov. John Kasich at 21% and Sen. Ted Cruz at 18%.
Real Clear Politics shows similar poll averages of 53% / 22% / 18% respectively.
We’ll see how this goes by tomorrow night.
The New York Daily News has endorsed Ohio Gov. John Kasich in advance of the GOP primary next Tuesday, and in doing so gives Donald Trump a slap for good measure.
New York’s 2.7 million registered Republican voters can break the fever that torments their party by voting for principled, pragmatic conservatism in the April 19 presidential primary.
By his record of accomplishment in public life, by the credibility of his plans, by a temperament that marries a small government outlook with can-do effectiveness, Ohio Gov. John Kasich is highly suited to carry the GOP banner into the general election.
Kasich’s qualifications are all the clearer — screamingly so — when matched against those of competitors Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.
In fact, both men would be disastrous as President — Cruz because he is an absolutist ideologue, Trump because he suffers from the irreparable, disqualifying defect of being Trump.
Campaigns reveal character. Event by outrageous event, this very strange race has exposed Trump the man to be a self-loving egotist, demagogue and bully who suffers from severe deficits of wisdom and maturity.
Only the pettiest of individuals would disseminate an unflattering photograph of a competitor’s wife to boast that his spouse was more attractive.
Only the most boorish would reference the size of his genitalia during a presidential debate.
Only the childishly cruel would make fun of someone’s disability.
Only the most thoughtlessly sexist would call for punishing women who have had abortions if abortion were ever criminalized.
Only those who are given to dividing between an us and a them would smear entire religions or nationalities.
As a mature, grounded politician, Kasich competes well against them both. Although he was largely overtalked in debates that were staged like gladiatorial contests, Kasich has nonetheless drawn the favorable attention of voters across the country.
The Daily News enthusiastically endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nod yesterday.
Last night during the CNN town hall with Donald Trump and his family, Ivanka Trump and brother Eric were asked why they failed to register to vote in the upcoming New York primary.
Ivanka’s answer:
“I’m an independent, and I’ve always voted based on the candidate as opposed to based on the party, and it was actually a very interesting experience,” Ivanka Trump told CNN during Tuesday’s town hall. “So, we’re not a family of politicians. We haven’t been in politics very long.”
“New York has one of the most onerous rules in terms of registration and it required us to register a long time ago, almost close to a year ago,” she added. “And, we didn’t do that.”
“Onerous” and “almost close to a year ago” aren’t really accurate phrases to use here.
Ivanka’s dad announced his candidacy on June 16, 2015. The closing date for Independents to change their registration was October 9th, 2015. That’s four months of their dad campaigning across the nation, and they didn’t think to make sure they took care of business.
And, let’s face it, counting back from today to October 9th is NOT “almost a year.”
It’s important to note: this isn’t some new rule change in New York. Responsible voters knew how and where to find this info.
Ivanka Trump rips as “onerous” registration laws that will keep her from voting for dad in #NYPrimary. #TrumpFamily https://t.co/E9Tk79uwjC— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) April 13, 2016
The New York Daily News has enthusiastically endorsed former Secretary of State just days before the New York state Democratic primary.
From the paper’s editorial board:
On April 19, New York Democrats will have unusual say over the party’s nominee. They have in Clinton a superprepared warrior realist. They have in opponent Bernie Sanders a fantasist who’s at passionate war with reality. By choosing Clinton, Empire State Dems would powerfully signal that the party has gotten real about achieving long-sought goals.
Clinton is unsparingly clear-eyed about what’s wrong with America while holding firm to what’s right with America.
She fully understands the toll that adverse economic forces have taken on the country.
She is supremely knowledgeable about the powers a President can wield to lift fortunes in need of lifting.
She possesses the strength and the shrewdness to confront the tough politics of advancing an ambitious Democratic agenda in the White House.
Still more, she is a cauldron-tested globalist who had the spine to give Obama a thumb’s up for taking out Osama Bin Laden and who is far the wiser about the use of American power, having served as secretary of state and seen the consequences of the war in Iraq.
These truths about America’s most well-known public figure are long past debating among Democrats, above all in New York, the state Clinton represented in the U.S. Senate.
California and New York become the first two states to implement $15 an hour minimum wage.
From the Washington Post:
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed into law a measure Monday that will hike the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2023 — making the Golden State the second in the nation to legislate a wage hike to that level. The first came minutes earlier in New York, where Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) signed a similar piece of legislation, implementing staggered wage hikes throughout the state over the next several years.
In a pair of statements, President Obama commended both Cuomo and Brown, describing the increase as a step in the right direction.
“Since I first called on Congress to increase the federal minimum wage in 2013, 18 states and more than 40 cities and counties have acted on their own — thanks to the strong leadership of elected officials, businesses, and workers who organized and fought so hard for the economic security families deserve,” he said in the statement on New York — and echoed in nearly identical language later on California’s minimum wage hike. “Now Congress needs to act to raise the federal minimum wage and expand access to paid leave for all Americans.”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump look to have big leads in the upcoming New York State Democratic and Republican primaries on April 17.
According to a new Quinnipiac University poll released today, Clinton leads Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont 54% – 42%. There are 247 delegates up for grabs in the Democratic primary.
On the GOP side, Trump leads among Republicans with 56%, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 20% and Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 19%.
In a hypothetical head-to-head race, the new survey shows Clinton would beat Trump for New York state’s electoral votes in a general election by 20 points – 53% – 33%.