News feed
As news was confirmed yesterday that Cynthia Nixon was indeed running for Governor of New York, the 51-year-old faced criticism from former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. Quinn – a gay supporter of current New York Governor Andrew Cuomo – spectacularly attacked Nixon for being an “unqualified lesbian”.
“Cynthia Nixon was opposed to having a qualified lesbian become mayor of New York City,” Quinn told the New York Post referencing how Nixon endorsed her competitor instead of her in 2013 in the race for Democratic primary for mayor. “Now she wants an unqualified lesbian to be the governor of New York. You have to be qualified and have experience. She isn’t qualified to be the governor,” Quinn said. Her comments sparked outrage online, so much so, Quinn jumped on Twitter to clarify.
“To be clear, Cynthia Nixon’s identity has no bearing on her candidacy and it was not my intention to suggest it did,” she posted. “I want to be clear about that. I would never, EVER, criticise someone because of their identity. I’ve experienced it time and time again, and would never support it or condone it. As a lesbian who ran one of the most high-profile races in the country, I know what that’s like. And I know it’s imperative that we encourage more members of our community to run for office.”
“Cynthia Nixon aggressively opposed my candidacy in New York despite my qualifications for the office and despite my strong progressive credentials,” she continued. “I was attempting to make a comparison between the two of us. The real point I am trying to make is that qualifications matter and records matter. I do not believe she has the qualifications or the record.”
Sex And The City co-star Kristen Davis (who played the blushing Charlotte to Nixon’s hard line lawyer Miranda), jumped to her friend’s defense. I am so proud of Cynthia Nixon, no one cares more than she does about EVERY person getting a fair change and a good education. I know that she would be an excellent Governor!” Davis posted on Twitter.
Yesterday, Nixon announced candidacy for office via a video on Twitter. She has said she will be focusing in on the State’s broken school system and aims to narrow the gap between the extremely wealthy and extremely poor.
