NYS STONEWALL DEMOCRATS: A Brief History

NYS Stonewall Democrats was cofounded in 1998 by then-Stonewall Democrats of Western New York chair Jeffrey Tooke and state committee vice chair Emily Giske (originally named the NYS Federation of Gay & Lesbian Democratic Clubs). Its mission is two-fold: to advocate for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community issues within the Democratic Party and to encourage participation in the Democratic Party by the GLBT community.

Its efforts have been geared towards further development of GLBT Democratic clubs throughout New York State, active participation in the local county and state Democratic committees, and facilitating cooperation amongst the various local GLBT Democratic clubs, the various statewide and national GLBT political organizations. NYS Stonewall Democrats is affiliated with National Stonewall Democrats and works with the Empire State Pride Agenda, the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force.

Along with its member clubs, NYS Stonewall Democrats sponsored its first-ever reception at the NYS Democratic Committee's 1998 state convention in Westchester County. Also in 1998, NYS Stonewall Democrats and its member clubs worked together in coalition with the newly formed National Stonewall Democrats (originally called the National Stonewall Democratic Federation) and the state's coordinated campaign for the successful victory of Senator Chuck Schumer and State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. At that time, NYS Stonewall Democrats' chair Jeffrey Tooke was quoted in various publications and newspapers about the 1998 elections, including the New York Magazine and the NY Blade.

In 2000, NYS Stonewall Democrats and its member clubs worked for the successful campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton, through the close collaboration with Hillary 2000 staffer Kevin Finnegan, who had previously been president of NYC's Gay & Lesbian Independent Democrats (GLID) and a founding representative with NYS Stonewall Democrats. They held their second reception at the NYS Democratic Committee convention in Albany that same year. In preparation of the 2000 presidential election, NYS Stonewall Democrats chair Jeffrey Tooke, along with other member club representatives (including then-GLID president Cynthia Smith), worked with Democratic National Committee Gay and Lesbian Caucus members Jeff Soref and Emily Giske and Human Rights Campaign Executive Director Elizabeth Birch to formulate the progressive inclusion of GLBT equality and GLBT families in the Democratic platform for its national convention. NYS Stonewall Democrats and its member clubs then went on to work hard for the presidential campaign of then-Vice President Al Gore.

In 2001, NYS Stonewall Democrats along with representatives from its member clubs began serving on the NYS Democratic Committee's Civil Unions/Domestic Partnership Task Force formed by then-state chair Judith Hope which culminated in the passage of the most progressive resolution passed by a state committee in support of GLBT equality and GLBT families. New state Democratic committee chair Herman 'Denny' Farrell has stated his intention and commitment to maintain this task force's agenda as he took the reigns of the state Party in 2002.

Since its inception in 1998, NYS Stonewall Democrats and its affiliated clubs have hosted a number of receptions at state committee conventions and have participated in various statewide elections. NYS Stonewall Democrats continues to be an affiliated club of the National Stonewall Democrats.