The calls have been intensifying for Mayor Eric Adams to rescind his appointments of Fernando Cabrera and two other officials with histories of anti-LGBTQ views.
“It is simply unacceptable,” said Victoria Rodríguez-Roldán, a board member with Equality New York. “These are not the values of New York City."
Adams will see a protest at this doorstep at City Hall on Thursday.
And his counterparts in citywide elected office, Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, jointly voiced their concerns.
That came after the City Council’s LGBTQ Caucus called Cabrera a bigot.
At an unrelated event Wednesday announcing his economic development team, Adams said he hears the criticism but he’s also heard the apologies.
"This was a different America when marriage was first brought to the floor,” he said of marriage equality. “If we say, everyone who did not get it then should be banished permanently, that’s the wrong message. The goal is to convert, allow people to evolve.”
Adams as a state senator was a vocal champion of the state’s Marriage Equality Bill.
In a 2009 floor speech, he said, “‘We too love America and we too have a right to prosper in America.’ That is all the men and women of the LGBTQ community is saying.”
Five years afterward, then-Bronx City Council Member Cabrera offered this praise of the Ugandan government during a visit to that country: “Even when the United States of America has put pressure and has told Uganda ‘We are not going to fund you anymore unless you allow gay marriage.’ And they have stood in their place.”
Cabrera apologized on Facebook late Monday just before Adams appointed him to lead faith-based initiatives.
Other Christian pastors with anti-LGBTQ pasts tapped by Adams are Erick Salgado and Gilford Monrose.
Critics are asking, why them?
“It is a city of 8 million people, last I checked, one of the greatest city centers,” Rodríguez-Roldán said. “There are definitely people who are better qualified, who actually understand equity and inclusion and who value all New Yorkers’ lives.”
Adams has been criticized for the lack of diversity among his administration appointees.
The economic development team he announced Wednesday includes members of the Latino, Asian American and LGBTQ communities.