Cathy Marino-Thomas Is Stonewall Strong

Activist Cathy Marino-Thomas talks with Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ about the current state of our LGBTQ community especially with our transgender, intersex and non-binary American citizens being targeted by the new administration. Most recently the National Park Service has deleted references to transgender and queer people by removing the “TQ” part of the LGBTQ acronym from the Stonewall National Monument website that launched a massive rally in NYC on Valentines Day.  Marino-Thomas who is one of the rally organizers stresses to our audience that this is no time to stay at home. We need to show up and speak out and not allow 50 years of LGBTQ civil rights progress be ripped away with executive orders attempting to erase our history and our community. The new administration is trying to scapegoat our community in an attempt to distract the country to what is really happening to all of our freedoms. This isn’t the first time our LGBTQ community has been targeted by an administration’s hatred and lack of understanding of who we are. When Republican Dwight Eisenhower was elected President he issued Executive Order 10450 in 1953 that revoked Truman’s Executive Order 9835 of 1947 and dismantled Truman’s Loyalty Board Program. This resulted in 5,000 federal gays and lesbians to be fired in government that began the Lavender Scare witch hunt of the 1950’s and continued until 1975. We talked to Cathy about what can we do to ensure our LGBTQ community moves forward in the current Trump administration and her spin on our LGBTQ issues. 

Cathy Marino-Thomas spent many years with the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) Buddy Program visiting people afflicted with HIV/AIDS and assisting them with daily chores, advocacy and information. She worked on the issue of marriage equality since 1998 serving as Executive Director of Marriage Equality NY for 3 years (2005 - 2008) and Board President for 6 years. After merging Marriage Equality NY with Marriage Equality USA 2011 she served as Co-President of Marriage Equality USA for 3 years until retiring in 2014. Cathy has spoken all over the country about the rights, privileges and obligations that protect families only through the right to civil marriage. Currently Cathy is proud to be a board member of the Stonewall Democrats of New York as well as Gilbert Baker Foundation which has joined forces with the ACLU to fight more than 60+ US communities who have banned the Rainbow Flag the global symbol of LGBTQ equality that was recently banned from federal buildings by the new administration.

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