An

Open Letter to Members of Stonewall Democratic Club

May 27, 2013 Dear Stonewall Member: We are members of Stonewall and of the LGBT community and we are writing to urge you to support Julie Menin, candidate for Manhattan Borough President. Julie is seeking the endorsement of the Stonewall Democratic Club at the meeting on Wednesday, May 29th. We support Julie because she is the kind of proven, effective leader that our community needs at a time when we continue to confront great challenges as well as opportunities. Recently our community came together in response to the tragic murder of Mark Carson just blocks from the Stonewall Inn and other instances of violence directed at members of the LGBT community. We need strong, determined leaders who will work alongside us as we fight against discrimination and to achieve genuine equality. Julie is deeply committed to working with us to pass the Gender Expression and Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), to increase the number of shelter beds for homeless LGBT youth, to legalize commercial surrogacy to give LGBT and all couples another option to have children and to fund needed services for LGBT seniors. As a community leader and small business owner Julie has worked to improve our neighborhoods and make them a better place to live. Like so many others, her life changed in a flash on September 11, 2001. With her business devastated and her family evacuated, she found resilience and motivation to revitalize downtown by creating the leading community organization that gave small businesses and residents that were affected by 9/11 a collective voice. Julie then became chair of Community Board 1 and a watchdog member of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, where she fought for issues of great importance. Julie has demonstrated that she will bring this same energy and leadership to the fight for LGBT equality and social justice for all communities. In recent years she has done the following: She led the charge as Chair of Community Board #1 to pass a unanimous resolution urging the Governor and New York State Legislature to immediately amend the domestic relations law to allow for marriage equality. She hosted a highly praised talk show on marriage equality aired on NBCs 24-hour cable news network. She led Community Board 1 in support of Occupy Wall Street's 1st Amendment right to peacefully protest and was praised by the New York Times in an editorial for her good approach and sensible response. She stood up for our democratic values of freedom of religion by winning approval of an Islamic community center and mosque in the face of hateful bigotry and angry threats. She led the charge to build three new schools, including the Citys first green school, earning her the New York League of Conservation Voters Environmental Champions Award. She discovered that the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation had over $200 million in previously undisclosed funds and when Con Ed tried to claim that money and increase rates for New Yorkers, she fought back and won all $200 million for a cultural center at the World Trade Center.


As our next Borough President, Julie will work for all of the diverse communities that make up the great borough of Manhattan. She will make sure we all have a role in planning for and benefitting from Manhattans growth and stand with us to defend valued principles: Every New Yorker should be secure and free from discrimination regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual preference or gender identity or expression. Every New Yorker should have access to affordable housing and schools, great parks and playgrounds in their own neighborhood. Every New Yorker should have a voice in decisions that affect their community. And as we build and rebuild we must create good jobs for people from every community in every part of the borough.

Making sure our growth benefits all of our communities will require leadership, common sense solutions and the ability to bring people together. Julie has showed these qualities throughout her career in public service. Her goaloriented approach is reflected in a paper she published recently proposing reforms to the land use review process (found on JulieMenin.com), by ensuring that any new development project will include the requisite number of school seats, affordable housing, healthcare facilities, open space, transportation infrastructure and other needs. Manhattan needs Julie Menins leadership and determination to make sure that all of our diverse communities thrive together free from discrimination, that our kids have great schools to attend, our seniors receive needed services, our homes stay affordable and our economy works for everyone. We urge you to support Julie Menin for Borough President in the club endorsement vote on Wednesday, May 29th!
Sincerely, Steve Ashkinazy Bob Dillon Scott Caplan Seth Weissman Justin F. Carroll Wayne Houston Charles Bayor Cathy Marino-Thomas Noah Pfefferblit Orlan Boston Allen Roskoff Jonas Siregar Tom Smith Robert Pinter Monte Albers de Leon David Chan Diana Propper

Julie has put together the broadest, most diverse coalition of support representing every neighborhood in Manhattan. Here is a partial-list of Julies other endorsements (all 250+ endorsers are listed on JulieMenin.com):
Congresswoman Nydia M. Velzquez State Senator Adriano Espaillat State Assemblymember Robert Rodriguez City Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito Former NYC Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum Communications Workers of America Local 1101 Arturo Schomburg Democratic Club Northern Manhattan Democrats for Change Village Independent Democrats Gramercy-Stuyvesant Independent Democrats Village Reform Democratic Club Chelsea Reform Democratic Club State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver State Assemblymember Deborah Glick State Assemblymember Gabriela Rosa City Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez Former NYC Public Advocate Mark Green Uniformed Fire Officers Association Correction Officers' Benevolent Association Lower Manhattan Democrats McManus Democratic Association Lower East Side Democratic Club United Democratic Organization