Governor Hochul: "I could not be prouder to be the Governor of a state that is the birthplace of the LGBTQ+ movement. And when people in other states are trying to take away the rights of our friends, we have to stand up. We have to stand up and show them who we are in New York - that we will not tolerate that. We'll call it out, and we'll shut it down because New York leads and what we're talking about is moving forward together fearlessly."
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul delivered remarks at Harlem Pride.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the event is available here.
PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Happy, Happy, Happy Pride. Let's have a great time here. Carmen, thank you for 14 years of this amazing celebration of love and friendship and Harlem. And I'm here with so many great elected leaders. I know you saw some of them, but our Borough President is here. Make sure we say hello to Mark Levine again. Our District Attorney is here, Alvin Bragg. Let's say hi to Alvin. Member of the Assembly, Eddie Gibbs has joined us. Eddie is here. Councilmember Gale Brewer. Let's give it up for Gale. And all of you, and all of you.
I want to tell you, I could not be prouder to be the Governor of a state that is the birthplace of the LGBTQ+ movement. And when people in other states are trying to take away the rights of our friends, we have to stand up. We have to stand up and show them who we are in New York - that we will not tolerate that. We'll call it out, and we'll shut it down because New York leads and what we're talking about is moving forward together fearlessly. Well, we are fearless, are we not?
That's how you get along in New York. You have to be fearless every single day. You have to be tough. You have to stand up to the hatred and the bigotry, and that's what this celebration is all about. We also have opportunities to make a real difference in people's lives and to put forth role models. I was so proud to recently be able to name the first trans man as a judge in the United States of America. It happened right here. Right here, we made history. And you know what I say to that? What took so long? Right? It's about time. It's about time. I'm going to continue to make sure that my administration looks like America, looks like New York State, looks like New York City.
So, I thank all of you for joining us here today. Again, this is an opportunity to stand together, united against the forces of hate and evil that seem to be taking over elsewhere, but not here, not ever, not in New York. Thank you everybody. Happy Pride! Happy Pride, everyone!