New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Canceled from LGTBQ Gala
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had been slated to headline this year's gala by the LGBT Bar of New York, but the group scratched him in the wake of allegations that Cuomo had acted inappropriately toward a female former staffer, the New York Post reports.
Cuomo had been set to receive the group's Community Vision Award, text at the LGBT Bar of New York website reads. The page includes a long list of successfully accomplished policy goals that Cuomo helped shepherd, including "Protect LGBTQ New Yorkers from torture known as 'conversion therapy,' " "Pass New York's Gestational Surrogacy Law, delivering help to LGBTQ+ couples trying to start families of their own," "Repeal the 'Walking While Trans' ban," and "Pass The Restoration of Honor Act to restore benefits to LGBT veterans denied an honorable discharge because of their LGBT status," among others.
The LGBT Bar of New York had sent out a release announcing the award and Cuomo's place of honor at the gala on February 24, mere hours before the allegations came to light, the Post noted.
The allegations were made by "former aide and candidate for Manhattan Borough President Lindsey Boylan" and took the form of "a Medium post alleging Cuomo once kissed her on the lips, subjected her to unwanted and uncomfortable attention and suggested they 'play strip poker.' "
When the gala took place the following night, "Cuomo wasn't mentioned by the hosts once," the Post reported. Instead, the emcee, "Marti Gould Cummings, a drag artist and City Council candidate... rattled off a list of accomplishments they'd credited Cuomo for in the email without mentioning the embattled gov."
The Post continued: "The gala went on to celebrate five other honorees for the group's 'Community Excellence Award,' naming them and congratulating them on their success without any mention of Cuomo."
A statement from Gov. Cuomo posted February 28 said, "At work, sometimes I think I am being playful and make jokes that I think are funny. I do, on occasion, tease people in what I think is a good-natured way.... I mean no offense and only attempt to add some levity and banter to what is a very serious business."
The statement goes on to add, "I now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal and that some of my comments, given my position, made others feel in ways I never intended. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that.
"To be clear, I never inappropriately touched anybody, and I never propositioned anybody... but these are allegations that New Yorkers deserve answers to," the statement continued. "That's why I have asked for an outside, independent review that looks at these allegations."
Cuomo's statement then referenced "anecdotal" reports that "some people have reached out to Ms. Bennett to express displeasure about her coming forward.
"My message to anyone doing that is you have misjudged what matters to me and my administration, and you should stop now... period."