[Fredslist] Proud to Be a New Yorker

Sun Jun 26 18:06:01 EDT 2011

Sizzle (she is just a small dog and really had no idea what was  happening) 
and I were also amongst the spectators...from 34th St to 23rd  Street 
because we wanted to be a part of something historic and to see the joy  on the 
faces of those who until this week ere considered "unequal"  citizens.  I 
wanted to share in the day and to enjoy the moment in the  lives of some of my 
clients and friends....Bravo New York...but I would have  been prouder if we 
had been first!
Janet

In a message dated 6/26/2011 5:47:53 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
pwhaserot at pdcounsel.com writes:

I am proud to be  New Yorker too, though the the legislation doesn't  
affect me as directly.  It affects my sense of right, of fairness, and  happiness 
for treatment of good friends. I felt a thrill and pride when I woke  up 
Saturday morning to see the headline.
Phyllis

From: "Christopher Lamal" <_clamal at lamal-law.com_ 
(mailto:clamal at lamal-law.com) >

Date: June 26, 2011 6:29:25 AM  EDT

To: "'Freds List'" <_fredslist at gothamnetworking.com_ 
(mailto:fredslist at gothamnetworking.com) >

Subject: [Fredslist] Proud To Be a  New Yorker

Purely by  circumstance, I happened to watch the NY State Senate vote on 
marriage  equality on TV Friday night.  I am surprised about how emotional I  
got.  I have no thought or desire of ever marrying, but I found myself  
crying when the Republican-controlled NY Senate approved the  bill.

I grew up in the land  of Hiawatha, in the northwoods of Wisconsin right on 
the shores of Lake  Superior.  Until recently, I was proud to tell people I 
was from  Wisconsin, a state known for its progressive politics (where the 
Republican  Party was founded in the time of Lincoln, the home of the 
progressive Bull  Moose Party and US Senator “Fighting Bob” LaFollette, the first 
state to elect  an openly gay woman to the US Congress and the first state 
to allow state  employees to engage in collective bargaining, etc.).  
Wisconsin also had  the reputation and record of clean, uncorrupted  government.

In light of what’s  happened in Wisconsin in just the past year, however, I 
just don’t feel that  much pride anymore.  The legislature in Wisconsin 
voted to repeal almost  all collective bargaining rights for state employees, 
and political campaigns  in the state have now become infected by huge 
corporate  “donations”.

Against that  background, I’ll just observe that each of us wants to take 
some pride in  where we have come from or where we have established new  
roots.

And so I gotta tell  ‘ya, I feel so proud to be a New Yorker right now.  
And so appreciative  of those NY Republican State Senators in a 
Republican-controlled State Senate  who voted in favor of the Marriage Equality Act.  The 
statements they  made in explaining their difficult votes and why they had 
changed positions  since 2009 were touching.

In several hours the  NYC Gay Pride March is set to begin. I live on 15th 
Street,  less than half a block away from the parade route down  5th Avenue.  
I’ve marched and watched enough of them over  the past 30 years that it 
normally would not have much interest for me except  as a stroll-by while 
walking my dog Jericho (who is mostly bored by the march  but gets very excited 
by the horses—at whom he barks and wants to  chase).

Today, however, is  going to be especially memorable as Gov. Andrew Cuomo, 
who pushed and  strategized this legislative achievement all the way through 
to success,  marches this year.  This was clearly an issue about which he 
felt deeply  and in which he used an enormous amount of his personal 
political  capital.  They say that normally around 1.5 million people either march  
in or are spectators at the parade.  Today, some authorities are  expecting 
perhaps 2 or 2.5 million people.  Jericho and I will be in the  crowd, so as 
to cheer Gov. Cuomo, Mayor Mike Bloomberg and those other  politicians who 
helped make this historic event  happen.

A very proud New  Yorker,

Chris  Lamal

Phyllis  Weiss Haserot
Practice Development Counsel
Consulting/Coach to the  Next Generation
Author of "The Rainmaking Machine: Marketing Planning,  Strategy and 
Management for Law Firms" and "The Marketer's Handbook of Tips  & Checklists"

* Next Generation, Next Destination*
*  Cross-Generational Conversation*

Voice:: 212-593-1549
_pwhaserot at pdcounsel.com_ (mailto:pwhaserot at pdcounsel.com)   
please  visit: _www.pdcounsel.com_ (http://www.pdcounsel.com/)   
and blog _http://www.nextgeneration-http://www.nextgene_ 
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Linkedin: _http://www.linkedin.com/in/pwhaserot_ 
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