Add David Dinkins to the list of New
York City mayors – former and current – urging New Yorkers to
support the legalization of gay marriage.
Former mayors Ed Koch and Dinkins have
followed in the footsteps of current mayor Mike Bloomberg in
recording a video supporting the cause.
“I know that we are a diverse people
who believe in fairness and equality,” the 83-year-old Dinkins says
in the 31-second ad. “Marriage equality should be the right of all
New Yorkers.”
“So I ask you to join me as a New
Yorker for marriage equality,” Dinkins adds. (The video is
embedded in the right panel of this page.)
In
his video, Koch says New York “is not doing so well when it
comes to fairness.”
Both ads were released on Friday.
In
his ad released in October, Bloomberg says he supports gay
marriage because “government shouldn't tell you who to love or who
to marry.”
The ads are part of an ongoing campaign
that features prominent celebrities and politicians, including
Hollywood
couple Ethan and Ryan Hawke, Robert
F. Kennedy, Jr., and actress
Fran Drescher. The campaign, backed by the Human Rights Campaign
(HRC), the nation's largest gay rights advocate, hopes to build
momentum on the issue now, ahead of a hoped-for second attempt to
legalize the institution later this year.