The New York Observer has obtained a "confidential" email from Alan Van Capelle, executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, New York State's leading gay rights group, to his Board of Directors.
In it, he slams Hillary for being a "disappointment" and urges his fellow homosexuals to stop contributing to her campaign. But at the same time, Van Capelle writes that "I believe Hillary Clinton has served the people of New York well in the United States Senate and that she deserves re-election. My vote for Senator Clinton will come despite her regrettable statements on the issue of marriage for same-sex couples and her current support for DOMA."
Despite what seems to be an unequivocal statement in support of her re-election, Van Capelle then says, "This year Eliot Spitzer, David Patterson, Alan Hevesi, Andrew Cuomo, Mark Green, Sean Maloney and others are running for statewide office and are in favor of marriage equality for gays and lesbians. When our struggle is over, they will be recorded as being on the right side of history and as of now Hillary Clinton will not be with them…Supporting an LGBT fundraiser for Hillary Clinton will actually hurt our community. It will send a message to other elected officials that you can be working against us during this critical time and not suffer a negative pushback from the gay community. We have become a community that throws money at politicians and we demand nothing in return. And that's what we get - nothing. It's the wrong message to send."
But as Van Capelle himself said in his confusing email, he still plans on voting for Hillary, even though she has, in his mind, done nothing for gay rights.
