The head of the nation’s top LGBT rights group is trying to stop conservative Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr. — a Bronx councilman known for his anti-gay stances — from getting elected to Congress.
“We have a known homophobe who is running for Congress who doesn’t represent the values of New York voters. He has a history of anti-LGBT rhetoric and votes,” said Alphonso David, president of the 3 million-member Human Rights Campaign and the former chief legal counsel to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The HRC’s PAC on Tuesday endorsed Bronx Councilman Ritchie Torres to fill the seat. “Council Member Ritchie Torres has broken barriers before, and he can do it again,” David said. “As the first LGBTQ elected official in the Bronx, Torres made history and set a new standard for what leadership looks like in the borough,” David said. “The Human Rights Campaign is proud to endorse Council Member Ritchie Torres and will do whatever it takes to elect him and defeat Rev. Díaz.”
Diaz, 77, a pentecostal pastor, is running for an open seat in the South Bronx after Rep. Jose Serrano announced his retirement. The district borders the 14th CD of Democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Diaz, then serving in the state Senate in 2011, was the only Democrat in the chamber to vote against the Marriage Equality Law — and then joined an unsuccessful lawsuit to block it.
“You can’t say I am not entitled to the same rights everyone else has. I was deeply offended that Diaz took that position,” David said.
Diaz also opposes abortion rights.
Diaz’s potential elevation would be an embarrassment to the liberal New York Democratic Party, party activists and rivals say.
Progressives are freaking out because private polling shows that Diaz – whose son Ruben Jr. is the Bronx borough president – has an 80 percent name recognition among voters in the district and could win the primary in a crowded field that includes nine other more liberal candidates – among them Councilman Ritchie Torres, Assemblyman Michael Blake, AOC-backed community activist Samelys Lopez, former Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito and Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez.
“In a crowded race Diaz is formidable but far from unbeatable,” said rival Torres, who has raised the most money in the race.
Diaz, who is known for stumping with his trademark cowboy hat, said he’s ready for the attacks.
“People know my track record of creating jobs and housing. When the Bronx was burning, I was here rebuilding the borough. Look at the Bronx now,” he said
“People know who I am. Yes. I oppose gay marriage because of my religion. I oppose abortion because of my religion. I oppose gambling because of my religion.
But, he added, “That doesn’t mean I hate gay people. That doesn’t mean I hate women. That doesn’t mean I hate gamblers. When I am elected to Congress, I will represent all the people.”
Diaz is also known for being chummy with Republicans.
When the Post asked him Monday who he would back in the race for the White House this fall – Republican incumbent President Trump or former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden, Diaz said, “I don’t know yet.”