Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Receives Ally Award at the Marriage Equality USA National Gala

May 19, 2014

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Well it is such a pleasure to be here. I’m so appreciative of the chance to be with you. And I have to say, I love what Robert and Michael just did, the stereo introduction. That was –

[Laughter]

That was a very impressive artistic display of introduction skills. I have to say, they’re a wonderful couple and their story says so simply what this fight is all about. Eleven years ago, Robert and Michael were married, classic place, they were married in Niagara Falls. Unfortunately they got married in Niagara Falls, Ontario, because at that point you couldn’t get married in New York State. And now, after their long wait and after the struggle they play such a great role in, they were married here in New York State as they should have been allowed to be all along. So they are legal in New York, God bless them.

[Applause]

And I love this beautiful honor tonight because the title is ‘Ally Honoree’. And I love the whole package, but I especially like being an ally because this is such a noble fight and such a fight that we have to wage all over this country until it’s entirely won. And I am here as an ally. I’m here to throw myself in with everything I’ve got to help you as you build strength across the nation.

[Applause]

And I want to acknowledge to people that I think it’s important to say: that whatever you do day-to-day, all the pressures of life, sometimes when you’re involved in a good cause like this, sometimes it’s a little hard to see just how much you’ve achieved because you get caught up in the next fight or the next fight. And you’ve got to stop sometimes and think about how much ground has been covered because of this organization and other wonderful organizations like it. They took on a battle that a decade ago was considered effectively impossible, and now it is sweeping the nation and history is on your side. And it’s only because you forced the issue that history became on your side, but remember the start of that momentum.

[Applause]

I want to thank your wonderful Executive Director Brian Silva and the whole Board of Directors.

[Applause]

I want to thank everyone who’s a sponsor, a supporter here tonight. I want to thank a dear fellow honoree and I love the way she’s done this work, Cathy Merino-Thomas.

[Applause]

She is my Italian soul sister and I love to see the passion, the vigor, and the fight that she has brought to this; and she has done so much for this cause. Wonderful organizations that are a part of tonight like LoveandPride and Imperial Court, thank you.

[Applause]

And we’re blessed to be in a place where our elected officials do the right thing, think the right thing, and that includes certainly our Comptroller Scott Stringer, our Public Advocate Tish James, who has been [inaudible] supporting tonight, and Councilman Corey Johnson.

[Applause]

So look, I’m going to be very brief. I think a lot of people in this room know the bigger approach I take to this work. We’re trying to create one city, we’re trying to overcome the divisions. We’re trying to bring people together. We’re trying to not let this be a city where it has been, at times, a place where not everyone felt included. Whether that’s economically, racially, in terms of gender, in terms of sexual orientation, people have not always felt included and that’s because they weren’t included. And that’s not what New York City is about. New York City – our history speaks to a vision of an open place, an inclusive place, a place that everyone is supposed to have an opportunity in. That is what we’re fighting for. And this struggle is such an obvious piece of that vision, so everyone should be able to be here and live and love as they chose. It’s [inaudible] been achieved, in terms of the laws of New York State, and yet there’s so much more to do. Because we know – we know there’s discrimination still to be fought, we know there’s violence against members of the LGBT community still to be stopped, and devised attacks – we saw a spate of them last year that was sobering as a reminder that we have to stop violence, stop intolerance, stop hatred dead in its tracks wherever we confront it.

[Applause]

I had an interview with a group of Italian journalists a few days ago. And they’ve had in so many countries in Europe this growing intolerance in their society that manifests very openly. They said, what do you have to say as mayor of New York City about how you fight intolerance? And I said one of the things we’ve learned here time and time again is call it out at the moment of impact. Don’t let it go by, don’t get it go unnoted, don’t let it ever seem accepted. This movement won – and so many other noble movements won – because people said no, we’re not going to look away. We’re going to keep coming back. And I hope you remember – again – that history, that victory that you wrought, that we will bring to other states, is because you would never turn away. And that’s how we stamp out violence against this community and bias.

And there are so many other things we have to do. We have to do a lot more for our homeless LGBT youth.

[Applause]

And we’re putting money in the budget.

[Applause]

Just so you know, because I’m not just spiritual – we’re putting money in the budget to increase shelter capacity for homeless and runaway youth. And they deserve it. And I always say – the notion – and I say this as a parent – that there are parents who could turn out their own children and send them out of their home into the unknown, it troubles me, it sickens me. And you know what, that’s when the city of New York has to step up and make sure these young people know there’s a place where they’re safe and sound. And we [inaudible]

[Applause]

And for a long, long time, our brothers and sisters with HIV and AIDS were fighting just to be able to afford their rent, just to be able to afford to live, and I’m proud to say that this administration has finally achieved justice with a 30 percent rent cap for people with HIV and AIDS – long overdue in this city, it’s finally here.

[Applause]

So, I’ll finish with a quote from someone who did so much and said so much that moved us all – Audre Lorde – she said, “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” This movement has lived out what Audre Lorde prophesied. Because of your work, people more and more are in fact recognizing and accepting and celebrating who we are. And that is the New York City that I want to see us build more and more. And that’s the New York City I’m proud to be mayor of. God bless you and thank you.

[Applause]