Statement by Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle

June 15, 2009--“On behalf of the Empire State Pride Agenda, I want to thank Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi for his thoughtful and eloquent op-ed in the New York Times this weekend.

In the article, the County Executive describes how he worked through the complicated issues surrounding same-sex marriage and reached the conclusion that legalization was imperative to ensure equal rights for our community and for all citizens of New York.

The County Executive has made an important contribution to the public debate when it was most needed. The Pride Agenda hopes other elected officials will follow Tom Suozzi’s lead and analyze this issue on the merits.

We are confident that when elected officials carefully consider all of the facts, they will also come down on the side of marriage equality now.”