In response to our report that Brad Lander, a  candidate for the Democratic nomination for City Council from Brooklyn, had been tied to an anti-gay ad aimed at openly gay opponent Bob Zuckerman in the Yiddish newspaper Der Blatt, Howard Dean is threatening to pull his endorsement.  Parag Mehta, a Democratic National Committee staffer who served as the LGBT liaison for the Obama transition team sent us this statement this evening:

I just spoke with Governor Dean about this situation in Brooklyn. He asked me to make it clear to all of you that he does NOT endorse any attempt to score campaign points off hate speech directed at the gay community – whether overt or implied. He is planning to call Brad Lander and ask him to condemn the language of the ad and if not, he will pull his endorsement.

Meanwhile, former Lambda Independent Democrats president Dan Tietz, who endorsed Lander in opposition to LID’s endorsement of Zuckerman, wrote on the Greater Voices Coaltion’s listserve that Lander had already “fully denounced [the ad's] gross and outrageous content.”  Though we reported yesterday that Lander, a supporter of marriage equality, denied placing the ad and that he called on Der Blatt to print a retraction, we have found no record of Lander fully denouncing the attack on the gay community and on his gay opponent.  Lewis Goldstein, a Brooklyn District Leader and Zuckerman supporter responded by writing that Lander should purchase an ad in Der Blatt voicing his condemnation.

Lander and Zuckerman are battling for a City Council District that includes the ultra-orthodox neighborhood of Boro Park and the progressive neighborhoods of Park Slope and Carroll Gardens.

We commend Howard Dean on his zero tolerance policy for hate speech.  Somewhere in the Hasidic neighborhoods of Brooklyn there is a young person who is struggling with his or her sexuality who is seeing this ad and receiving the message that religious based bigotry against LGBT people is acceptable.  Whether the ad originated with Lander or not, he is aware of it, and it invokes his name.  If he aspires to be a “fierce advocate” for LGBT people, he must stand up not just for the out LGBT person in a happy relationship who wants to get married, but for the young Hasidic person who is seeing this attack on gay people and receiving the message that political candidates will not stand up against such defamation.  Howard Dean is to be applauded for his firm stance.  Let him be a model to others.

Tags: Bob Zuckerman, brad lander, der blatt, Endorsement, gay, hasidic, Howard Dean, LGBT

This entry was posted on Monday, September 7th, 2009 at 8:20 am and is filed under Defamation, Endorsements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.