Human Rights Campaign hosts meet and greet with New York Congresswoman Yvette Clarke

On Saturday, the Greater NY Steering Committee hosted a Meet & Greet with our friend, Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, in her district in Brooklyn. The meet and greet was held at neighborhood gay bar mainstay, Excelsior. HRC was joined at the meet and greet by openly gay NYC Council candidates Bob Zuckerman and Yetta Kurland, senior board members and members of the Stonewall Democrats of NYC & Lambda Independent Democrats ("LID") (Brooklyn's LGBT Democratic club), among about 30 others. In attendance from the Steering Committee was Chris Carolan, Amelia Field, Anthony Hayes, Dirk McCall, Daryl Cochrane, Drew Beckman, David Hurst, and Pete Webb (who did a great job organizing the logistics of the event).

Chris Carolan introduced the Congresswoman to the crowd, calling her our "new hero, friend, and champion for equality". Carolan later indicated that the Congresswoman would officially receive the HRC PAC's endorsement for her re-election to the House when endorsement announcements are released later this year, which the audience was very happy to endorse in their own right with a rolling thunder of applause.

Congresswoman Clarke spoke with feeling about her desire to stay connected with her LGBT constituents, to fight for our rights, to pass legislation like an all inclusive ENDA, and reform a tax code which discriminates against long time gay couples, and to take on more conservative entrenched mindsets in Washington. She spoke with hope of the upcoming election, expressing the view, often espoused by HRC also, that when sitting Members go back after having voted for progressive legislation and get re-elected in November, and are joined by yet more pro-equality progressives, it will become easier to pass ENDA, Hate Crimes, and other set pieces of our legislative agenda, especially with a president who would be willing to sign these bills into law. Clarke also expressed the hope that the U.S. Senate would vote on the many pieces of legislation passed by the House this year before the end of the legislative calendar. When asked how the LGBT community could do more to help her in her work, she urged the community to come together and speak with one voice and not be distracted from the hard work ahead.