Stop Tom Marcelle

This website has been created in response to the selection by Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy of Tom Marcelle for Albany County Attorney.

Albany County is a diverse community, where we constantly strive for better cultural and racial understanding built upon mutual respect and facts, not distortions and hate. Yet the selection of Mr. Marcelle goes against all of this.

Currently, Mr. Marcelle serves as Senior Counsel and a vocal advocate for a Right Wing Group called the Alliance Defense Fund (http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/about). The Alliance Defense Fund is an organization which through lawsuits seeks to deny equality to all members of the LGBT community, to deny a woman the right to choose, and finally they seek to end the separation of church and state. They go so far as to refer to the pro-equality movement as “The homosexual legal agenda is one of the greatest threats to religious freedom in America today”.

Both the Albany County Legislature and the Albany City Council have voted in favor of a proclamation and resolution recognizing that all Albany County residents are equal, gay or straight; the selection of Mr. Marcelle goes contrary to this. Bigotry, of any nature should not be tolerated among our elected officials, let alone their appointments. Mr. Marcelle and the Alliance Defense Fund actively pursue policies which attempt to undermine the civil liberties of their fellow citizens.

 We therefore call upon County Executive McCoy to withdraw this nomination and if he refuses for the members of the Albany County Legislature to vote against it. No member of the Albany County Legislature, who is pro-choice, pro-equality, and pro-separation of church and state, should vote in good conscience be able to vote for this nomination.