ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo, a gay-community hero for spearheading last year’s legalization of same-sex marriage, is taking rare heat from gay activists for a recent appointment to the State University board of trustees.
Some gay activists blame Cuomo’s pick, Manhattan lawyer Richard Socarides, for helping former President Bill Clinton push through his “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military, as well as the 1996 federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
“This man has tried to undo the work of a generation of gay activists,” said Allen Roskoff, president of the city’s Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club and head of a gay-lesbian group for Cuomo’s father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo. “I think it’s fair to say no progressive gay was consulted on this appointment.”
“This is an embarrassing, shameful appointment,” added Bill Dobbs, another longtime gay activist.
Socarides, who is gay, did not respond to requests for comment.