"Speaker Quinn has helped her constituents press the New York City Council to become an aggressive advocate for marriage equality, and all citizens of the nation's largest city will benefit with her as Speaker of the Council," said Eric Stern, NSD Executive Director. "This week further demonstrates that Democratic officials across the country trust Stonewall members like Christine Quinn, Ken Reeves and Jim Roth to guide government bodies with their leadership."

National Stonewall Democrats today also congratulated two additional Stonewall members on their elections this week to chair metropolitan jurisdictions. On Monday, the City Council of Cambridge, Massachusetts elected Councilmember Ken Reeves as Mayor while the Oklahoma County Commission reelected County Commissioner Jim Roth as Chair.

The Speaker of the New York City Council, created in 1989, is considered to be the second most powerful city office following that of the Mayor. Speaker Quinn, who was first elected as a Councilmember from Manhattan in 1999 becomes the third public official to serve in the role of Speaker for the 51-seat council. During her tenure, Quinn has lead on labor and health issues, and worked closely with outgoing Speaker Gifford Miller to advance legislation impacting the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The New York City Council is considered an equal partner with the Mayor of New York, and overseas a city budget of $32 billion - larger than the budgets of 48 states.

Mayor Ken Reeves, a board member of the Bay State Stonewall Democrats and is a founding member of the Stonewall Democrats Black Caucus, became the first openly-gay African American mayor of an American city when he was previously elected as Mayor of Cambridge in the 1990s. Commissioner Jim Roth, first elected to the Oklahoma County Commission in 2002, is also active with the Stonewall Democrats and is the first openly-gay official in the state of Oklahoma. In 2005, Commissioner Roth was the recipient of the Oklahoma Stonewall Democrats Mary Lou Lemon Humanitarian Award for progressive leadership in Oklahoma.

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National Stonewall Democrats is the only national organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Democrats, with more than 90 local chapters across the nation. NSD is committed to working through the Democratic Party to advance the rights of all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

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