Bx. pol draws ire of LGBT advocates

Opponents of a Bronx pol infamous for homophobic comments is taking the fight to his base,launchingacampaignseeking to inform Christians and Spanish-speaking voters about his controversial record.

The Bronx United political action committee launched over the weekend with English- and Spanish-language videos casting City Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr. as a bigot and fake Democrat as he runs for Congress.

“I know firsthand what it feels like,” the Rev. Carmen Hernandez, a Bronx-based LGBT rights activist, says in the video, which features blurbs about Diaz’s homophobic stances. “Who gives you the right to hurt another human being?”

She accuses Diaz, a Pentecostal minister, of exploiting voters of faith.

“In the Bronx, there’s churches on every corner. He’s using the Christian people to win the votes,” she says. “Where are the LGBT people that need to come out?

“Just like he has his people, we need our people to come out and say no and exercise — those that are allies of ours — and say no, we do not accept hate. No, we do not accept division. We do not accept indifference,” she continues.

Diaz has continuously been in office since 2003. He did not immediately answer a request for comment.

Bronx United is trying to chip away at his base by pointing out his most outrageous comments, like saying, “The Council … is controlled by the homosexual community.”

He’s called gay people “cursed” and likened them to “drug addicts” — all facts noted in the new PAC’s video.

Diaz also infamously said he’d never report a colleague for sexual harassment because that would make him a “rat.”

While he’s running in a Democratic primary, Diaz has welcomed Republicans when they were campaigning in the Bronx for higher offices.

The race for the 15th Congressional District seat includes Councilman Ritchie Torres, who is openly gay, and democratic socialist Samelys Lopez.

The new PAC is not endorsing any individual.

A South Bronx charter school recognized citywide for its progressive teaching approach is now facing closure after a panel of evaluators found it made insufficient academic progress to renew its charter.

But teachers, parents and supporters of Heketi Community Charter School in Mott Haven are fighting back, arguing that the school met its goals for academic growth and the state review fundamentally misunderstands the school’s approach to education.

Heketi, whose name means “one” in Taino, the indigenous language of Puerto Rico, operates in both Spanish and

English. Parents say the school’s philosophy — which prizes inquiry and exploration and eschews punishments and a rigid curriculum — is a rarity among city schools, especially in low-income and black and Latino neighborhoods.

“The moment I walked into the doors it was a sense of relief. It just felt right,” said Stephanie Caban-Gonzalez, the mother of a second-grader at the school who is helping to organize the parent opposition.

“I was devastated” to learn of the closure recommendation in December, Caban-Gonzalez said. “I just thought, ‘Well, we’re going to have to fight … even if I have to chain myself to this school.’ ”

The city Education Department has closed far fewer public schools under Mayor de Blasio than under his predecessor, Mike Bloomberg.

Charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run, are subject to the approval of state-appointed authorizers — the State University of New York in Heketi’s case. The schools submit to academic standards often stricter than those applied to public schools in exchange for increased flexibility in staffing, scheduling and curriculum. SUNY has shuttered seven city charter schools in the past five years.

Susie Miller Carello, the executive director of the SUNY Charter School Institute, the group that delivered