Who is the senator of new york
New York Senator Chuck Schumer Speaks at the 2019 HRC NY Gala
thank you everybody thank you
[Applause]
it is so great so great to be here once
again on a great great night I want to
thank the co-chairs Greg Battaglia
Kristen hurt Gary Hilbert thank you Paul
he always does a great introduction and
one more person to acknowledge two more
my great friend Jordan Ross who has done
so much to advance the LV LGBT cause
throughout the theater and through his
own personal activism and the actress
the great actress
Amandla Stern Stenberg who has taught us
so much about identity and empathy and
one more thank you this is somebody who
is been at the helm of HRC been a close
friend a great leader someone who never
gives up and won't he'll have a great
impact in years to come but the job he
has done for HRC cannot be described in
words let's put let's put our hands
together for Chad Griffin
[Applause]
now a lots happened in the last year
since I was here with you Paul Manafort
was indicted Rick Yates was indicted
Michael Flynn was indicted Roger stone
was indicted Michael cone was indicted I
could keep going but I only have 10
minutes the state of New York with a new
state Senate Majority which you helped
make happen has already passed two bills
expanding LGBTQ rights a band on hateful
practice of conversion therapy and
gender which finally gives our chant
transgender people the new New Yorkers
the legal protections against
discrimination a shout out to Brad
oilman who helped make that happen oh
and by the way there was that election
in November Democrats swept back to have
power in the house we have the most
diverse class of candidates in the
history of the US a record number of
women the first openly gay governor and
we forced Paul Ryan to hand over the
gavel to Nancy Pelosi so we finally have
a check a check on this awful mean and
often vicious president we saw that
check recently Nancy and I stood firm
together mr. president you're not
getting that wall not today not tomorrow
not in the future and that will be the
first of many places we block you from
your pernicious activity now on a
personal note I've had an iris and I
have had a great year our older daughter
Jessica and her husband Michael had a
little baby I'm coming to you as a
grandpa
and my daughter Allison married a
beautiful young lady Elizabeth on
November 18 and they are living happily
together and I want to make a point how
when you do things in the public realm
it benefits everyone of us personally so
I graduated from college in 1971 and I
didn't know a lot of you weren't born in
1971 I didn't know a lot of gay I didn't
know gay people who were out back then
almost no one was out but in the 80s and
90s every few months I'd meet someone
who was a friend in college and they'd
come up to me and say you know I was gay
I was a lesbian when we were in college
but I couldn't tell anyone but now that
I'm out I was so much happier more
fulfilled person I even saw that with my
seatmate in Congress i sat in the
banking and the Judiciary Committees
throughout my 18 years in the house next
to Barney Frank
and once Barney came out in 1988 he was
a much more effective and happy
legislator he was still had that nice
acerbic wit but he was so these
experiences motivated me to come out for
gay marriage before most politicians at
the time of course I didn't know that my
daughter was gay now fast-forward to a
restaurant in San Francisco a few years
ago at dinner Allison told us she was
gay
iris and I I had no idea after dinner
iris asked me well how do you feel I
said let me sleep on it
the next morning here's how I felt she's
exactly the same person I loved so much
before but I loved her even more even
more because she had carried the
knowledge of her sexuality with such
common
send strength now let's fall fast
forward to their wedding Alison and biz
are living our planning to live their
lives together with the same freedom
that Michael and Jessica my older
daughter and son-in-law have note that
the old constraints on finances whether
their have kids where to live where to
work or no are gone because of gay
marriage and so I feel because of gay
marriage and LGBTQ progress I did
something early on cuz I thought it was
the right thing to do but now so many so
many can live richer and happier lives
as Allison and biz can and that is a
great example of the progress we've made
and a lesson to every single legislator
and person in power to do the right
thing right now Allison and business
happiness is being repeated hundreds of
times each day in every corner of the
country so I wanted to share that little
personal note with you that doesn't mean
we're home free there's a lot of
progress that we still have to make but
it'll come if we work hard it took
millions of Americans hundreds of years
to build this awesome country of Fair
laws and opportunity Americans had to
fight and protest and agitate they
inspired our country to weed out
injustice and move ever closer to our
highest ideals in order to achieve
equality and fairness for everyone in
the LGBTQ LGBTQ community we must follow
in their footsteps the women who
gathered at Seneca Falls the peaceful
marchers who crossed the bridge in Selma
and the brave gay and transgender New
Yorkers who fifty years ago at a place
called stonewalled taught the country
the power of resistance in this moment
of anxiety about the direction of our
country I want to remind
everyone here of one assailable truth
America does change for the better but
its capacity for change in speed and
scope remain up to us we cannot let up
we must continue to push and prod to
March to vote to use our voice not just
for our future but for our families our
children and all those who come up come
after us thank you god bless you
onto more progress for LGBT equality
full equality full equality we will
fight for it till we get it
thank you everybody I love you
[Applause]
