(Credit: Jeffrey James Keyes via Queerty)

Thousands marched Monday night in New York City to denounce the recent rash of anti-gay violence, including the murder of Mark Carson this weekend. The march to the spot where Carson was shot was led by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and Edie Windsor, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court challenge of the Defense of Marriage Act, and also included representatives from numerous other LGBT groups.

Glennda Testone, Executive Director of the city’s LGBT Community Center, addressed the crowd at the intersection of 8th Street and Sixth Avenue:

We have always been a community that takes care of each other.  Sometimes when no one else will. We’ll continue to do that. We will continue to show up for each other. There are hundreds of us here tonight, but the truth is, that there are five hundred thousand LGBT people who come to New York because they want to live openly. They want to be who they are, they want to love, and they should be able to do that. They should be able to do that on any street, any avenue, any neighborhood in this great city that we all love. [...]

The violence we’ve seen in recent weeks is a reminder. It’s a reminder that political and legal gains do not always necessarily translate immediately to the street, to every street, and to every person. This is a reminder. It’s why we need to stay united, it’s why we need our voices to be strong, and we can’t go back. We are here today not only to mourn the loss of our community, not only to take back some of our power, and to take back that sense of safety, but we are here together, as one, to create a strong voice that says we will not be threatened, we will not be harassed, we will not be taunted, and we will not be killed because of who we are and who we love.

More photos can be found at Queerty, Towleroad, and Joe.My.God. Watch a brief clips from the rally, including remarks from Carson’s aunt:

The Washington Blade recently caught up with New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D), who married her partner Kim Catullo in May. Quinn, who is favored to succeed Michael Bloomberg (I) as mayor of New York, reflected on the advance of marriage equality last year, pointing out that there have been no “fear and gloom” consequences as a result:

QUINN: When New York State passed marriage equality, one could feel the joy on the streets. Everywhere couples went, people asked when are they getting married, what will their wedding be like? You could see and feel their happiness. The fear and gloom that opponents predicted did not come true, the world did not end when gay people could marry. Just the opposite, people felt love and joy. We had the opportunity to publicly commit in a legal ceremony in front of our family and friends, that we are a couple, we are family. And we are just as important as any other family. I will always be grateful for that day and remember that day for the rest of my life.

Quinn also offered a full-throated endorsement for President Obama’s re-election because “we can’t go back to a time when we lost our rights.”

It seems telling that the political conservatives attracting media attention for coming to the defense of Chick-fil-A and its anti-gay crusades — Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty — are all most recently known for having lost elections. Indeed, the anti-gay vitriol that Chick-fil-A’s president Dan Cathy has repeatedly dispensed has been a loser with the public: YouGov BrandIndex polling shows that the public’s approval of Chick-fil-A has taken a nosedive since Cathy’s interview from 65 to 39:

Meanwhile, a number of prominent leaders have continued to show their displeasure with Chick-fil-A. Here’s a sampling:

• House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): “For the record, I prefer Kentucky Fried Chick. #ChickFilA” (Twitter)
• Washington, DC Mayor Vince Gray (D): “Given my longstanding strong support for LGBT rights & marriage equality, I would not support #hatechicken” (Twitter)
• Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker (D): “Wouldn’t deny a biz a permit on those grounds BUT I’d join my residents in taking my $’s elsewhere” (Twitter)
• Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA): “I disagree with what the CEO from Chick-fil-A said. I was glad he spoke further and said that his company does not discriminate.” (Boston.com)

To clarify Brown’s remarks, Chick-fil-A said it will “treat every person with honor, dignity and respect,” regardless of sexual orientation, but the company still has no employment protections in its official corporate policies. According to Forbes.com, there have been at least 12 lawsuits against the company since 1988 on various charges of employment discrimination.

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D) wrote to the president of New York University, home to the city’s only Chick-fil-A, urging him to end the university’s relationship with the anti-gay restaurant:

NYC is a place where we celebrate diversity. We do not believe in denigrating others…As you know from recent press coverage, the President of Chick-fil-A continues to make statements and support causes that are clear messages of extreme intolerance and homophobia and a belief that LGBT Americans are less than others and deserve to be treated as such.[...]

I urge you to sever your relationship with the Chick-fil-A establishment that exists on your campus. This establishment should be replaced with an establishment where the ownership does not denigrate a portion of our population.

Another university’s leadership has already taken action against a Chick-fil-A on its campus. The president and provost at the University of Louisville released a statement saying that they “will not be eating at Chick-fil-A anytime soon.” Responding to a growing student petition, U of L administrators are currently assessing the contractual arrangements with the franchise on campus to evaluate further courses of action. At least seven other universities also have petitions underway challenging the existence of a Chick-fil-A on their campuses.

Attacking gay people as purveyors of society’s destruction is harmful to many people, and as public condemnation grows, it’s proving to be a losing philosophy for Chick-fil-A.

Fifth-grader Kameron Slade’s speech on marriage equality is surely a winner. Last month, it disqualified him from his school’s speech competition because the principal said that the content was “inappropriate.” But Kameron shared his speech with news station NY1, and hundreds of thousands of people watched it through ThinkProgress or other outlets. The following week, the principal offered the “compromise” of allowing Kameron to read his speech just to his classmates.

But Kameron was destined for more. Moved by his words, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D) invited him to give his speech before the Council. Quinn noted that it was the day after the state celebrated one full year of marriage equality. Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D), who is marrying his partner this weekend, described Kameron as “the most courageous and wonderful young man I’ve ever seen.” Here again are Kameron’s simple but powerful words as he presented them to the New York City Council:

SLADE: Some people are for same-gender marriage, while others are against it. Like President Obama, I believe that all people should have the right to marry whoever they want. Marriage is about love, support, and commitment. So who are we to judge? If we judge people like this, this is a form of prejudice. We must learn to accept all differences.[...]

My mom is very open with me about same-gender marriage. However, some adults may feel uncomfortable and think it’s inappropriate to talk about this to children. I think adults must realize that as children get older, they become aware of these mature issues that are going on in the world. If children read or watch the news, they can also learn about things like same-gender marriage, so what’s the point in trying to hide it?

In conclusion, I hope that everyone understands how important it is to respect everyone for who they are. Same-gender marriage is becoming more popular. I believe that same-gender marriage should be accepted worldwide and that parents and teachers should start to discuss these issues without shame to their children.

Watch it: