A rally was held outside the State Capitol building on Tuesday, April 29, 2008, with hundreds of people waving signs and chanting in an effort to advance gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights.  The rally was a part of Empire State Pride Agenda’s (ESPA) annual lobby day.

The event was dubbed “Equality & Justice Day”, as advocates pushed for issues like same-sex marriage (A8590 O’Donnell/S5994 Duane), the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (A6584 Gottfried/S3753 Duane) and the Dignity for All Students Act (A3496 O’Donnell/S1571 Duane). The organization claims that over 1,300 people were present to lobby the State Legislature.

This year, ESPA made a deliberate effort to include a wider cross-section of New Yorkers, including younger and older, homosexual and heterosexual, and black and white advocates.  Supporters carried signs that said things like, “Another Straight New Yorker for LGBT Equality & Justice” and “All Families Deserve Equality.”

This was an intentional and necessary effort to portray the homosexual and transgender lifestyle as normal behavior.  The effort was necessary in light of recent Hunter College poll that showed less than 3 percent of the American population over age eighteen identify themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual.  Frequently the homosexual community will claim that 10 percent or more of the population is gay, but the Hunter College poll, funded by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (normally favorable to homosexual rights), is damning to that notion.  In fact, this poll is strikingly similar to a University of Chicago study known as the National Health and Social Life Survey that showed only 1.4 percent of women think of themselves as lesbian or bisexual, and only 2.8 percent of men identify themselves as gay or bisexual.  ESPA needed a strong showing at their rally this year.

During the rally, Alan Van Capelle, Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director, referred to those who oppose ESPA’s legislative agenda as “hate-mongers”, but it was Van Capelle who stated his virulence for those who oppose ESPA when he declared, “We hate them” in reference to defenders of traditional values.  Van Capelle clearly stated that those who defend the notion of the historic understanding of the family are ESPA’s “enemies.”

Rev. Duane Motley, Executive Director of the Christian lobbying organization New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, said “The Bible teaches Christians to love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for them which persecute us.”  He urges Christians across New York State to pray for Van Capelle and all those whom Satan has trapped in the homosexual lifestyle.