PART II — Before anybody supports Marty Golden’s “Republicans for Change” they should know that Marty Golden is no kind of “Family Values” Conservative — CHARGES AGAINST GOLDEN

Joseph Hayon, a socially conservative –  family values Republican, puts the lie to the notion that State Senator Martin Golden and his Chief of Staff, Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar, are any kind of  “Family Values” conservatives

The NYS Senate Republicans’ cave in on the "Dignity for All Students Act" (DASA) was part of a cynically motivated and orchestrated plan by the Senate GOP leadership team led by then-majority leader Dean Skelos, which was fully supported by State Senator Martin Golden, who signed-on as a co-sponsor of the NYS Senate version of the Dignity for All Students Bill.  Skelos and Golden were seeking to avoid the impact of Golden’s seat being targeted by NYS LGBT groups in the 2010 election. The ulterior Skelos-Golden plan worked like a charm — and it resulted in LGBT groups withdrawing their active support during the campaign of Michael DiStefano, the openly gay Democratic Party candidate who was running against Golden in 2010.

The passage of DASA was part and parcel of the same overall sell-out strategy that later was followed by Skelos, Golden & Company in their transparent “opposition” to a LBGT-supported same-sex marriage bill pending in the New York State Senate — in that instance, on June 23-24, 2011 the majority GOP caucus in the state senate allowed a same-sex marriage bill to be considered on an expedited basis and with out debate by the whole New York State Senate, where it passed with four necessary Republican votes and subsequently became the law (The Marriage Equality Act) in New York State.

Back to DASA: after not passing the New York State Senate for nine years, the Republicans in the New York State Senate reversed their opposition on a version of the “Dignity for All Students Act” that was being pushed by  LBGTQ advocates across the several United States and in the U.S. Congress. As a result of the turn around of the Republicans in the New York State Senate led by Dean Skelos, and with State Senator Martin Golden as a senate co-sponsor, the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) was enacted in New York State in 2010 (with an effective date in 2012). The bill was presented as an “anti-bullying bill,” but DASA is much, much more than something that prohibits bullying in schools.  Among other things, DASA does prohibit students from engaging in “harassment or discrimination,” including discriminatory acts based on a person’s “actual or perceived race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, gender, or sex.” However, DASA additionally requires schools and districts to: adopt non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies and to inform students and parents of those policies; develop guidelines for nondiscriminatory instruction and counseling and for training teachers, administrators, and other school employees to discourage discrimination and harassment; and to report incidents of discrimination and bias harassment to the New York State Department of Education. DASA also requires the State Education Department to assist schools and  districts to implement the requirements of the act with regulations, direct services, and model policies.

Shortly after Governor Patterson signed DASA into law in 2010, several conservative-minded religious groups were concerned that it would be used to force religious schools, like Yeshivas, to teach various aspects of homosexuality to children. As a result, Joseph Hayon, a representative of several of the communities and yeshivas that felt threatened recounted the following:  “ I approached Gerry Kassar, who is Senator Marty Golden's chief of staff.  He told me it was too late to sponsor any legislation to remedy any perceived overreach in the New York Dignity for All Students Act, but Kassar assured me that it would be taken care of in 2011.  Since I had long history with Kassar, I was very surprised that I had to keep reminding him about it during 2011. Since nothing happened by going through Golden’s chief of staff,  I decided to approach Senator Golden personally in 2012. He listened and seemed supportive.  Just like with Kassar, nothing happened as a result of talking to State Senator Golden about it”.

During the same time Democrat Assemblyman Steve Cymbrowitz, a man that Mr. Hayon had run against in 2010, took up the issue. As a result of Cymbrowitz’ efforts, the NYS Assembly passed a bill unanimously that exempted private schools from DASA. In spite of regular lobbying by Joseph Hayon, Golden never sponsored similar companion legislation in the State Senate.  After former Republican State Senator David Storobin was elected, during his few days serving in the State Senate, he sponsored the Cymbrowitz version of the bill, but Golden didn’t co-sponsor or support Storobin on that bill. According to Hayon, “An alternative piece of legislation might have been introduced somewhere along the line in the State Senate, but this makes no difference to me or others who care about what is taught to children in the religious schools.  My kids are in danger because Golden refused to sponsor the Cymbrowitz bill in the Senate.” Hayon  passionately added this, “For protecting my three lovely children, I fully endorse David Storobin for City Council.”

It should be noted that even though Steven Cymbrowitz’ DASA remedial bill was never passed or signed into law, as a result of his lobbying with the NYS Department of Education, they have specifically issued a statement of policy that DASA would not be applied to religiously based schools.

That remedy does not satisfy Joseph Hayon. “Regardless of what Assemblyman Cymbrowitz got from the Education Department, the way the DASA law now reads, Yeshivas may be forced to instruct children in ways that might ask them if they will kiss each other or treat each other in other wrong ways. Marty Golden is my representative and represents many Jews and Catholics and others who send their kids to private religious schools. Thanks to Golden all those schools are still covered by the ‘Dignity for All Students Act’ with all that it means about possibly teaching abhorrent things to our children.”