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Mike Bloomberg on Civil RightsMayor of New York City (Independent) |
I wanted to get the ability to permit gay marriages in New York City. I'm a believer that it's none of the business who you love, who you want to marry or whatever. You should be free to do that. So I went up to Albany and I convinced the Republicans, even though I was very liberal NYC mayor. I convinced them to vote for gay marriage.
And the way I did it was talking to each one of them and explaining, "Look, if it was somebody in your family that came to your kid, and said, 'Daddy, I want to marry somebody and you're not going to like who it is but this who I'm in love with.' "
What would you say? You wouldn't want to say no, it's your child. I mean you might not be thrilled about it, but in the end you want to give your child what that child wants. And so I convinced them on that basis to actually go and pass a gay marriage bill.
Mike will launch a federal "Respect for All" initiative to combat bullying, harassment and discrimination. He will promote school-based mental health programs, including suicide prevention efforts, and protect LGBTQ+ youth from the harmful practice of conversion therapy. Mike will expand support for shelters and services for homeless youth, and ensure equal treatment of child and families in the child welfare system, as well as LGBTQ+ seniors in federally funded long-term care facilities.
Mike will create a uniform, transparent, and inclusive districting process that will require states to establish independent redistricting commissions when drawing federal congressional districts. This is especially important for communities of color, who have long been disenfranchised by unfair, partisan redistricting.
Mike will require policies like automatic voter registration and early voting, and ensuring the availability and accessibility of polling places. Mike will upgrade election infrastructure and protect the integrity of our federal elections by mandating the use of state-of-the-art voting machines.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings is still refusing to sign onto the pledge, despite a petition with 253 signatures and promises of protests at his upcoming public events.
The group has also added two new co-chairs, San Diego's Jerry Sanders and Boston's Thomas Menino; with New York's Michael
Bloomberg, L.A.'s Antonio Villaraigosa and Houston's own Annise Parker. The five-co-chairs issued the following statement: Before Bloomberg announced his candidacy, he disclosed that a polygraph test, administered by an expert he had hired, proved he had
been truthful when denying the sexual harassment allegations of a former employee. The contents of the test were never made available, just the expert's conclusions. One suit was settled a year before he became a candidate; he did not admit guilt, and
she was paid an undisclosed sum and legally bound to remain forever silent. A 2nd suit was dismissed. A 3rd was withdrawn. A large class-action suit charging discrimination against pregnant employees was filed after Bloomberg had left.
Never forgotten is William Bloomberg's response when his son asked him why he gave donations to the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People. "He said, 'Because if there's discrimination against blacks, there'll be discrimination against Jews, and everyone else. We're all in this together.'" Mike was 10 or 12 years old but the message resonated.
Bloomberg's vulnerabilities as a candidate could well have doomed his campaign in normal times. The largest of those vulnerabilities turned on the complaints of women about sexual harassment and discrimination at Bloomberg L.P. While preparing to run,
Bloomberg had told his advisers about the cases and they tried preemptively to bury the subject--by airing it in public.
Bloomberg supports gun control, has raised taxes, backs same-sex marriage and signed a law banning the use of trans fats in fast-food restaurants.
The mayor once filed suit on behalf of the city against two dozen gun dealers.
Page last updated: Mar 20, 2021