New York State

Al Taylor has come around on New York’s Equality Amendment

The Assembly member and New York City Council candidate said his personal views should not “overrule the right for someone else to make their own decisions.”

Assembly Member Al Taylor

Assembly Member Al Taylor Assembly

The state Legislature didn’t need the support of Assembly Member Al Taylor to advance a constitutional amendment that would prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ people and prevent actions limiting access to reproductive health care. But Taylor, a Democrat and longtime pastor in Harlem, nonetheless voted in favor of the constitutional amendment this week, sending it to voters in November 2024. But just last year, Taylor voted against the same amendment.

Speaking to City & State on Wednesday, Taylor said he voted in favor of the Equality Amendment this year after realizing that his personal beliefs as clergy should not “overrule the right for someone else to make their own decisions.” The amendment specifies new protections from discrimination based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive health care and autonomy. Currently, the state constitution offers protection from discrimination based on race, color, creed or religion.Taylor did not elaborate when asked what his specific objections to the amendment were when he voted against it last year. But when first asked about his vote this year, he referenced the right to choose. “I felt that I had to take my personal (beliefs) and sit it on the side, and say to the voters, ‘You decide. You have a right to make that decision. A woman does have the right to make her own decisions.’ And it should go on the ballot,” Taylor said. 

Taylor, who is primarying Democratic City Council Member Kristin Richardson Jordan for her Harlem council seat this spring, did not elaborate when asked what he believes abortion access should look like. He voted against the 2019 Reproductive Health Act, which codified the protections of Roe v. Wade in New York. But Taylor noted that he voted for some of the abortion bills that passed last spring after it was reported that the U.S. Supreme Court would overturn its landmark abortion decision.

“I’m clergy. I believe in supporting life 1,000%,” Taylor told City & State. “But I have been elected by folks that want me to do the best for the state. And there comes a time when you’re making decisions, you have to make sure that you allow everybody’s voice to be heard. And I prematurely didn’t allow that last year.”

Taylor’s change of heart on the Equality Amendment comes amid his competitive challenge for Jordan’s council seat, where it’s likely his positions on abortion and LGBTQ rights will be raised by any of the several Democrats now vying for the seat. “Whether I’m running for reelection on the Assembly side or the council side, this was one of those things you had to address,” Taylor said when asked whether that change of heart had anything to do with his council race. “I was glad to be able to step into this space, and do what I should have done last year, which is allow people to go into the booth and pull the lever and make their own decision.”

Last spring, Taylor voted in favor of two bills that prohibit misconduct charges, malpractice suits and other adverse actions against health care practitioners who perform abortions or provide other reproductive health services for people who travel from out of state. And he voted in favor of a bill requiring a report on the unmet health needs of pregnant people and their access to “accurate, noncoercive health care information.”

But Taylor also voted against three of the abortion bills that his Democratic colleagues overwhelmingly championed and passed last spring. That included a bill providing some legal protections for abortion service providers, a bill allowing people who access or provide reproductive health care to enroll in an address confidentiality program and a bill allowing people to bring a claim against someone who is suing them for accessing reproductive health care.

The Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club in December called for some state lawmakers who endorsed Taylor’s council run to withdraw their support, noting his past vote against the Equality Amendment and asserting that Taylor refuses to perform same-sex marriages.

Taylor said Wednesday that he supports the LGBTQ community “1,000%” and that he believes the U.S. Supreme Court has settled gay marriage. But he didn’t deny that he told Jim Owles President Allen Roskoff before that he won’t perform same-sex marriages, saying that he would lose his credentials to perform marriages or pastor if he did so. “While I was pleasantly surprised to see that our efforts and pressure prevailed in ensuring that Al Taylor voted correctly with the LGBTQ community yesterday, I am still deeply concerned by his positions, and his track record on our issues,” Roskoff said in a text message on Wednesday about Taylor’s “yes” vote on the Equality Amendment. (Taylor said he did not talk to the Jim Owles club about the bill.) “His inconsistent behavior on our issues is about as reliable as George Santos,” Roskoff added.

Taylor described his vote flipping on the Equality Amendment as an evolution. “You wrestle with that, with what I personally believe and say, ‘OK, well, that’s what I believe. And no one’s taking that from me. But am I allowing others to exercise their own right to believe?’” Taylor said. “You can’t talk about being a change agent or supportive of change if you’re not willing to first be a part of it yourself.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.