Celebrating the Birthplace of the LGBTQ+ Movement

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul delivered remarks at the American LGBTQ+ Museum groundbreaking ceremony in New York City celebrating the State’s history as the birthplace of the LGBTQ+ movement.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good afternoon, friends. Looks like a party's already started. Of course it is. Of course it is. And I want to acknowledge the extraordinary leadership of this institution, the New York Historical. And Louise Mirrer, I love your vision. I love what you're doing with the place. And I look forward to many more years of your leadership.

And Agnes Hsu Tang, I want to thank her for helping me understand the importance of this. I remember coming to a breakfast here when I first became governor. And Agnes and other members of the board introduced me to this idea that we should do something, we should make some more progress to honor and celebrate the incredible history here in New York State as well as the nation. The history of the LGBTQ+ community and so, Agnes, I know this is part of your vision as well.

And Richard Burns, our chair, thank you for being a great leader, Ben Garcia. I know we have our Attorney General here, Tish James, let's give her a huge round of applause. Tish James, so many leaders are here.

We had Brad Lander, our Comptroller. Mark Levine is here. And also my colleagues and friends in the Legislature. I just heard from Brad Hoylman and Linda Rosenthal, what great champions they have been in our Legislature. I know there's many out there, but it's dark and I can't see you. I'm just kind of guessing. So, I know you're there.

Today we celebrate courage, when you think about it, the long journey from those who stood against their communities, their friends, their family, the police and took to the streets and said, “No, we have basic human rights, that we should go where we want to go, drink where we want to drink, dance where we want to dance. And by the way, we're gonna love who we want to love.” That was the message of 1969, which we've celebrated so many times, the 50th anniversary and how exciting that was a couple years ago.

But to also hearken back to those who struggled, those who were the outliers, those who were not embraced by society and yet stood up anyhow. I honor all them. And those who, back in 1972, had this crazy idea that there should be a New York City Gay Bill of Rights. And we have some of those champions with us here today.

I know Allen Roskoff, are you here? This was one of your ideas. And Ethan Geto and others. All of you who stood up and said, Let's enshrine this into a law. Let's not just say, “We're going to give them rights, let's make sure it really becomes reality.” So it's no accident. And I know we heard the long list of so many leaders, but I want to mention 1990, someone like Deborah Glick could be the first openly gay member of the state legislature.

1991, Tom Duane and Antonio Pagán were also elected as members of the City Council. Tom went on to become the first openly gay member of the New York State Senate in ‘98. So, we build on those stories as I look to encourage more people to run for office. And there are so many leaders of the gay community who are elected, but we have more capacity.

Do we not, my friends? Let's open up more doors to lift up the voices. And this is a great place to showcase this to everyone, all citizens of New York, all visitors to this great city should come to this gathering place and understand a part of our history that shows that New York State is not just the first place to celebrate and honor women's rights.

It's not the first place to fight for environmental rights. It's not just the first place to fight for labor rights. It's not just the first place that was the home of the precursor, the NAACP. We also say we are the birthplace of the LGBTQ+ movement and it's all right here celebrated in this fabulous museum and as it will be when it opens its doors in a couple of years.

So, even without the bricks and mortar building, I know there's been over 30 programs every single year bringing people here to be able to see the memorabilia, see the stories of the past, listen to those, and be inspired by their courage to take up the same kind of fights that we face today. Yes, this is New York. You can forget how tough it is in some of the rest of our country and what's going to be happening in Washington, D.C. in a few months, but we will not forget. Because we have within our own DNA that sense of righteousness, that we will stand up, not just in our own state, but fight for our brothers and sisters all across America to make sure that their rights are protected as well.

We'll always be that beacon of hope. That place where we'll always be pushing forward and changing laws. We changed the number of laws even this last year because we're not done yet. And I wanted to support this project. We have over $12.5 million from the State. I know it was a lot of money, but it is worth it. I'm sure you'll be asking for more if I had a guess too. I know how this goes: “Yeah, Governor, we just need a little bit more to be able to put the final touches on.” Okay, you know I'm going to listen.

But let me close with this: I'm ready for the fights. You're ready for the fights. You've been through the fights before, and that is what we must do for America. And I thank all of you for that. And I think about the fact that there's going to be a garden planted. A dormant garden planted that symbolizes the beauty of a new beginning. They say when you plant a garden, it means you believe in tomorrow. That tomorrow will be there. Our tomorrows are going to be great in this state because of all of you and the people who believe in this cause. The telling of the story of so many brave people.

But it's not just celebrating the past. I want 50 years from now to be more in this collection of what we've done in our time. How we continue to lift up the people who — my Uncle Kevin was found out in the 60s and 70s as an openly gay man in the military. It was a hostile world. And I don't want anyone ever to have to endure what my Uncle Kevin had to put up with.

I love my Uncle Kevin. We lost him during COVID. But he had a fight that he had to fight alone in too many places. That will never happen again. Because we're here to celebrate. To say it's not just about tolerance. Tolerance means you're getting along. It's about acceptance. It's about embracing. It's about love. And those will always be the values that define us here in the great State of New York.

Thank you, everybody. Congratulations. Great celebration. Thank you. Thank you everyone.