Queens Chronicle: Dromm Speaks Out Against Monserrate And Hate

From Queens Chronicle: By Elizabeth Daley

Former Sen. Hiram Monserrate chose to make gay marriage the focus of a re-election rally Monday, but community members said he should have focused on issues that actually distressed them.

“There are so many issues in our community other than this,” said Jackson Heights resident, Luis Garcia.

Monserrate gathered with clergymen outside the Jackson Heights office of his challenger, Jose Peralta (D-Jackson Heights). The clergymen flanked him like a choir lined up to sing his praises, but when it came time to speak, most spoke out against Fight Back New York, a group they labeled “rich gay outsiders.”

“I have seen a generation of children sunk down by the gay community,” said the Rev. Ricardo Reyes of El Elyon Christian Center in Corona. Reyes claimed to have become familiar with gay people after working as an actor. “It’s a problem of the spirit,” he said, regarding homosexuality.

Fight Back New York ran ads critical of Monserrate due to his vote against gay marriage. While funding for the group may not come exclusively from Queens, Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) said the organization does represent the views and values of the district in which Monserrate is seeking office. “Jackson Heights holds the second largest gay pride parade outside the borough of Manhattan. We are a multicultural and multi-ethnic community and we do not support hate,” Dromm said.

According to Dromm, part of the reason members of the gay community were so upset with Monserrate was because he initially said he would support equal rights for gays and lesbians, but then backed down when it came time to vote on marriage rights.

Dromm, who is himself gay, said the clergymen who supported Monserrate were “cloaking their hatred behind religious biggotry.”

“Are these ministers then saying that it is OK for him to beat his girlfriend, but we can’t marry if we are two loving gay people?”

Garcia, a life-long Republican who has lived in Jackson Heights for over 40 years, said he plans to support Monserrate in the upcoming election. “It’s what they did to the constitution, to not give the community a say. Who do they think they are? Do they think we are stupid?”

But, “he’s doomed,” Garcia added, looking at Monserrate peering out from behind the crowd of clergymen he was allegedly standing up for.

Monserrate’s fate is still up in the air. So far, only the special election scheduled for March 16 will determine exactly who has the right to sit as senator of the 13th District.

“Hiram is popular and we can’t take anything for granted,” Dromm said. “There is power in name recognition.” As the rally progressed, a middle-aged woman carrying shopping bags walked by: “Is that the guy that dragged the woman around on the floor?” she exclaimed, “Oh my God, I don’t believe it.”

Monserrate is the first New York senator to be expelled from office in more than 200 years. The state constitution, amended in 1821, neither grants nor denies legislature the right to purge members. Monserrate is currently awaiting judgment on a federal appeal filed against the Senate’s decision to oust him in February after he was convicted of a misdemenor assault. The case is set to be heard on March 12, and could alter conditions for this special election.

The race for the Senate seat is presumed to be largely between Monserrate and Peralta (D-Jackson Heights). Peralta voted in favor of gay marriage and is currently on the Democratic ticket. Robert Beltrani will be running on the Republican ticket.