New York City Council Speaker Christine
Quinn, a Democrat, on Sunday launched her bid to run the city.
Quinn's announcement came in the form
of a biographical video. Instead of a speech, Quinn held an intimate
walking tour of the city.
“I'm about keeping New York City a
place for the middle class to live and grow and a place that's going
to help all of those hard-working people get into the middle class,”
Quinn said in the 5-minute video. “I'm not about talking and
finger pointing and complaining. I'm about getting things done.”
“I'm running for mayor because I love
this city. It is the greatest place in the world. It's the place
where my grandparents came from Ireland. They came here because they
heard magical things could happen here. That their family could make
their way out of poverty and be in the middle class. It's the city
that gave my family that opportunity.” (The video is embedded on
this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
While the video includes a brief
reference to Quinn's work in support of gay rights, it includes no
mention of her own sexual orientation.
Last year, Quinn married her longtime
partner, lawyer Kim Catullo. And Quinn's mayoral campaign has the
support of Empire
State Pride Agenda, New York's leading gay rights advocate, and
the Human
Rights Campaign (HRC).
If elected in November, Quinn would
become the city's first openly gay mayor. And the first legally
married, openly gay politician to lead a major U.S. city.