| Thomas K. Duane | |
|---|---|
| Member of the New York Senate from the 29th district |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 1999 |
|
| Preceded by | Catherine Abate |
| Member of the New York City Council from the 3rd district | |
| In office January 1992 – January 1999 |
|
| Preceded by | Carol Greitzer |
| Succeeded by | Christine C. Quinn |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 30, 1955 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Louis Webre (2011-present) |
| Residence | New York City |
| Website | tomduane.com |
Thomas K. Duane (born January 30, 1955) is an American politician from New York, currently serving in the New York State Senate. He was the nation's first openly HIV-positive person elected to office.[1]
Duane is the only openly gay member of the New York State Senate.[2] He represents the 29th Senate District, which stretches along Manhattan's West Side from 85th Street to Canal Street, and includes the following neighborhoods: Upper West Side, Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea, Greenwich Village, and part of the East Side, including the East Village, Stuyvesant Town, Peter Cooper Village and Waterside Plaza.
First elected to the Senate in 1998, he took office the following January and has won re-election every two years. He is the past Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, and he is currently that committee’s Ranking Minority Member.[3]
His signature legislative accomplishments in the New York State legislature to date has been the passage of the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA) (2002) and Timothy's Law, which requires mental health parity for patients by insurance companies (2006) which were subsequently signed into law by Governor George Pataki.
He was also instrumental in the ultimate passage of the Hate Crimes Protection Act, which stipulates longer penalties for those convicted of alleged hate crimes, and mandates that New York State keep an active database of these crimes and "Manny's Law," which requires hospitals to disclose to indigent patients the availability of state-sponsored funds for health care costs.
Prior to his election to the New York State Senate in 1998, Duane served on New York City Council, to which he was first elected in 1991. He and Antonio Pagán, first elected in the same year, were the first two openly gay city council members in New York.[4] For part of that time, Christine Quinn worked as his chief-of-staff. When he resigned his council seat on being sworn in to the Senate, she successfully ran to succeed him.[5]
In 1994, Duane ran for the U.S. House of Representatives against incumbent Jerrold Nadler, who had been appointed as the Democratic nominee for Congress in 1992, following the death during the campaign of eight-term Congressman Ted Weiss. Duane lost the primary election by a margin of two-to-one.[6]
Duane also served four terms as Male Democratic District Leader in the 64th Assembly District beginning in 1982. He has also served as a member of his local community board in the past.
Only the second openly LGBT member of the New York Legislature, he is today one of six, alongside Assemblymembers Micah Kellner, Daniel O'Donnell, Matthew Titone, Harry Bronson and Deborah Glick.
Duane has been the lead sponsor of same-sex marriage legislation in the New York State Senate.[7] Duane's comments during the December 2, 2009 New York State Senate floor debate regarding the same-sex marriage bill have been described as "a meandering 21-minute ramble that was the furthest thing from cogent."[8] In February 2010, following the December 2009 Senate defeat of the same-sex marriage bill, Alan Van Capelle of the Empire State Pride Agenda made the following public comments regarding Duane's work on the marriage bill: "We have a prime sponsor of the [marriage] legislation [Duane] who spends a whole lot of time talking about it and who spends no time trying to talk to his colleagues about how to" pass it.[9] Van Capelle added, "People were less than impressed by his performance on the floor of the senate during the marriage vote and are concerned about his leadership on other issues."[10] However, following the Senate vote, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn issued a statement thanking Duane and the State Senate leadership for bringing the bill to a vote and "applaud[ing] them for their dogged leadership on this issue."[11]
Duane holds a degree in American and Urban Studies from Lehigh University. Born at the old French Hospital on West 30th Street in Manhattan, he was raised in Flushing, Queens,[12] where he attended St. Andrew Avellino School and Holy Cross High School (Flushing). His brother, John F. Duane, served in the New York State Assembly in 1983-84 representing the 26th Assembly District in Queens.[13] Duane's partner of 18 years is Louis Webre.[14]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Carol Greitzer |
New York City Council, 3rd District 1992–1998 |
Succeeded by Christine Quinn |
| New York State Senate | ||
| Preceded by Catherine Abate |
New York State Senate, 27th District 1999–2002 |
Succeeded by Carl Kruger |
| Preceded by David Paterson |
New York State Senate, 29th District 2003–present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Kemp Hannon |
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health 2009–2010 |
Succeeded by Kemp Hannon |