Jump to content

Christine Quinn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by AdamRetchless (talk | contribs) at 23:24, 22 September 2007 (Iranian President visit). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Christine Callaghan Quinn
Speaker of the New York City Council
Preceded byGifford Miller
Personal details
Born (1966-07-25) 25 July 1966 (age 58)
Glen Cove, New York
Political partyDemocratic
Residence(s)New York City, United States

Christine Callaghan Quinn (b. 25 July 1966 in Glen Cove, New York) is a Democratic politician from New York City who has served for six years on the New York City Council. She is the third speaker of the City Council, which is considered the second most powerful position in city government after the Mayor. Quinn is the first woman and first openly gay person to be elected speaker.[1] She has been rated one of the fifty most powerful women in New York City by the New York Post and one of the "Forty Under Forty" by Gotham Magazine.

Life and career

Quinn attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. She served as head of the Housing Justice Campaign for the Association of Neighborhood and Housing Development. Quinn entered politics to manage the City Council campaign of Thomas Duane in 1991, Quinn was Duane's Chief of Staff for five years, after which she became the Executive Director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project. Then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani appointed her to as a member of the NYC Police/Community Relations Task Force.

When Duane was elected to the New York Senate in 1999, Quinn won his seat on the Council. As of 2007, she still represents the Council's third district, representing Chelsea, Greenwich Village, and Hell's Kitchen, as well as parts of SoHo and Murray Hill.

Before becoming Speaker, Quinn served as chair of the Health Committee, during which she sponsored the Equal Benefits Bill and the Health Care Security Act, which requires that City contractors provide parity in benefits between married spouses and registered domestic partners. This and the Health Care Security Act (which ensures health care for grocery workers) were passed over Mayor Michael Bloomberg's veto. However, the courts threw out the Equal Benefits Bill for conflicting with existing competitive state bidding laws.[2] Quinn led the Council's opposition to Bloomberg's unsuccessful West Side Stadium plan.

Preceding the controversial lecture by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia University, Quinn wrote to the university requesting that his invitation to speak be withdrawn.[3]

NY St. Patrick's Day Parade boycott

Quinn announced in 2007 that she intended to march in the LGBT section of Dublin, Ireland's St. Patrick's Day Parade. She was invited to Dublin due to the Ancient Order of Hibernians's policy against gays and lesbians marching openly (i.e. displaying overt symbols of their sexuality) in the New York parade. She tried to broker a deal with the organisers in 2006 to allow her to wear a gay pride pin, but failed and has since boycotted the event. [4] [5]

Quinn was named the third-most powerful woman in New York, behind Hillary Rodham Clinton and Diane Sawyer [6] She resides in Chelsea, Manhattan with her partner, Kim Catullo. [7]

References

  1. ^ Chibbaro, Jr., Lou. "Most powerful" gay politician in the country, Washington Blade. Retrieved on 04-11-2007.
  2. ^ N.Y. High Court Rules D.P. Benefit Law Invalid, Associated Press. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ NY Snubbed In Gay Row, Sky News, retrieved on 2007-03-05
  5. ^ [2], New York Times, retrieved on 2007-03-05
  6. ^ [3], New York Post, retrieved on 2007-05-14
  7. ^ Christine C. Quinn Biography
Preceded by New York City Council, 3rd District
1999-present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Speaker, New York City Council
2006-present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christine_Quinn&oldid=159693983"