HRC Blog

Anti-Gay Mailers Hit New York in Days Leading Up to Primary

September 11, 2012 by Dan Rafter, Online Campaigns Manager

Primary day is just over a day away in New York, and a wave of anti-gay mailers circulating online appear to be targeting candidates who supported marriage equality.

The latest piece is in the race between New York City Councilman Eric Ulrich and Juan Reyes for State Senate. The lengthy piece blasts Ulrich for having dinner with “an openly gay Democratic Councilman and his husband” and even for hiring a gay chief of staff. It goes on to criticize him for occasionally supporting Speaker Christine Quinn’s bills. Quinn, also one of the leading candidates to replace Mayor Bloomberg in 2013, is openly gay.

View the piece (click to enlarge):

Another bizarre piece targets Sen. Mark Grisanti, a Buffalo-area Republican who voted in favor of marriage equality. The ad features men in intimate positions and asks: “How far will a politician go to get into your pant$ [sic]?” On the reverse side, the ad says “Make sure your Son [sic] says “Thank you, Mark Grisanti””

BuzzFeed has more on that ad, and the Buffalo activist potentially behind them. (Warning: Images on the ad are somewhat explicit.) The story was first reported by Politico.

A third mailer, reported to HRC via a local supporter, goes after Republican Stephen Saland. His opponent, Neil Di Carlo, appears to be behind a series of pieces attacking Saland for voting in favor of marriage equality. One of the mailers obtained by HRC features a photo-shopped image of Saland holding hands with Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo: