In February of 2019 — just months before World Pride swept through the Big Apple — Ruben Diaz, Sr., then a Bronx councilmember, rocked the New York City political landscape when he said the City Council was controlled by the “homosexual community.”
Diaz’s offensive comments were met with fierce criticism across the city. Lawmakers from multiple levels of government demanded his resignation — and his refusal to back down ultimately led to swift punishment under a City Council that was led by out gay Speaker Corey Johnson: Diaz was stripped of his post as chair of the Council’s Committee on For-Hire Vehicles and the committee itself was dissolved entirely. Diaz was punished just days after his comments surfaced.
