‘Veteran’ in a Stonewail vs. Nixon
WHAT A LOUSY party — and why weren’t we invited? Stonewall Rebellion Veterans Association Director Williamson Henderson is insulted that Cynthia Nixon (inset) launched her gubernatorial campaign with a fund-raiser at the Stonewall Inn on Wednesday. He’s also unamused that his activist group, which was formed in the aftermath of 1969’s Stonewall Riots, was left out of the event.
“She’s ripping off gay history to promote herself,” he said.
According to Henderson, he and his cohorts were regulars at the Stonewall Inn when the West Village bar was raided by police, resulting in a violent six-day standoff that first made gay rights a national conversation.
Nixon, who was 3 at the time, also prides herself as an advocate for LGBT rights. She reportedly met her wife,
Christine Marinoni, at a 2002 gay rights rally. The pair announced their engagement at another rally in 2009.
Henderson said Nixon should also be “more respectful” of Gov. Cuomo, whose 2011 stamp of approval on same-sex marriage “made (Nixon’s) own wedding possible” in 2012.
He also suspects that the “Sex and the City” actress doesn’t want to move to Albany.
“This is a dress rehearsal for her to run in three years for New York City mayor,” he said.
The Stonewall Rebellion Veterans Association, which boasts roughly 40 members, claims its feud with Nixon dates back to 2013, when she stumped for Bill de Blasio’s first election at a campaign event with a dozen Stonewall Vets in the front row.
“It’ll be five years in June,” he said. “They were on a little stage that was about 2 feet high for show … they never even acknowledged us. She was talking about gay rights, gay pride, and there were a dozen of us there. Fast-forward to the other night — she doesn’t invite the Stonewall Veterans?”
Willson was further enraged after watching coverage of the event where it was reported supporters who contributed as little as $1 could attend. Stonewall Veterans identify each other with trivia questions including “What was the cost of admission on weekdays?” It was a buck.
Nixon’s reps did not return a request for comment.