Daniel J. O'Donnell (born November 17, 1960) is an American

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from the state of New York. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, he was the first openly gay man elected to the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

in 2002. During his tenure as an Assembly Member, O'Donnell represented the 69th district in Manhattan, which comprises the neighborhoods of

Manhattan Valley Manhattan Valley (also known as Bloomingdale) is a neighborhood in the northern part of the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by West 110th Street to the north, Central Park West to the east, West 96th Street to th ...

Morningside Heights Morningside Heights is a neighborhood on the West Side of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Morningside Drive to the east, 125th Street to the north, 110th Street to the south, and Riverside Drive to the west. Morningsi ...

, and portions of the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

and West Harlem. Known for his leading role in LGBTQ rights, O'Donnell was the legislative sponsor of the Marriage Equality Act, a law legalizing same-sex marriage, during its successful passage and signature into law on June 24, 2011. In 2010, he ushered in the passage of the anti-bullying Dignity for All Students Act. More recently, he led the charge to repeal 50-A and the

gay panic defense The gay panic defense or homosexual advance defense is a victim blaming strategy of legal defense, which refers to a situation in which a heterosexual individual charged with a violent crime against a same-sex attracted individual claims they ...

and authored legislation making all public, single-occupancy bathrooms gender-neutral.

Early life and education

O'Donnell was born in

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial ...

, and raised in

Commack, New York Commack ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the towns of Huntington and Smithtown in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York. The CDP's population was 36,124 at the 2010 census. History The name "Commack" comes from t ...

. O'Donnell's father immigrated from Ireland, and his mother was Irish American. He grew up Catholic. O'Donnell is one of five siblings and is the brother of entertainer

Rosie O'Donnell Roseann O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American talk show host, comedian, and actress. She began her comedy career as a teenager and received her breakthrough on the television series ''Star Search'' in 1984. After a series of television ...

. O'Donnell and his siblings were sexually abused by their father. Rosie stated that "generational abuse and alcoholism" is prevalent in their family. He attended

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily ...

before transferring to

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

for his Bachelor of Arts. O'Donnell received a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

CUNY School of Law The City University of New York School of Law (CUNY School of Law, pronounced Help:IPA/English, /ˈkjuːni/, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KYOO-nee) is a Public university, public law school in New York City. It was founded in 1983 as part ...

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

.Biography
/ref>

Career

After graduating law school in 1984, O'Donnell worked for seven years as a public defender in the criminal defense division of Brooklyn's Legal Aid Society before opening his own law firm on the Upper West Side. His community practice helped clients with tenant representation, as well as civil rights litigation ranging from employee discrimination to First Amendment rights. Since 2002, he has represented the 69th District in the New York Assembly. O'Donnell first ran for the legislature in 1998, making an unsuccessful bid for the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

in the 30th district; he lost the Democratic primary to

Eric Schneiderman Eric Tradd Schneiderman (born December 31, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 65th attorney general of New York from 2011 until his resignation in May 2018. Schneiderman, a member of the Democratic Party, spent ten year ...

. When Assemblyman Edward C. Sullivan announced his retirement in 2002, O'Donnell was one of eight Democrats who entered the race to succeed him. In the crowded primary election held on September 10, 2002, O'Donnell won 34 percent of the vote, twice as much as his nearest competitor. In the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

that followed, he prevailed with 82 percent of the vote. O'Donnell is the first openly gay man elected to the New York State Assembly. O'Donnell ran uncontested in the 2008 and 2010

s. He was opposed in the September 13, 2016 Democratic Primary by Steven M. Appel, but won over 73% of the vote. In 2008, O'Donnell was considered by New York Governor

David Paterson David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer, who resigned, and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to ...

to fill the Senate vacancy created by the appointment of

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

as President Obama's Secretary of State. Paterson ultimately appointed upstate Congresswoman

Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand (; ; born December 9, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York since 2009 ...

to the seat. In 2019, O'Donnell sought the New York City Public Advocate seat being vacated by

Letitia James Letitia Ann "Tish" James (born October 18, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2019 as the 67th Attorney General of New York, attorney general of New York (NYAG), having won the 2018 New York Attorney General election, 2018 ...

, who had been elected for New York State attorney general. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by

Jumaane Williams Jumaane D. Williams ( ; born May 11, 1976) is an American activist and politician who has served as the New York City Public Advocate since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party and a self-described democratic ...

Legislation

On June 19, 2007, O'Donnell ushered the Marriage Equality Act, a bill that would have legalized same-sex marriage in New York State, which passed by a vote of 85–61 in the Assembly. Although the bill passed the Assembly and had the support of then-Governor

Eliot Spitzer Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 54th governor of New York from 2007 until his resignation in 2008 after a prostitution scandal. A member of the Democratic Party, he was also ...

, the Republican-controlled

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

did not take up the measure. O'Donnell once again led the fight for an equal marriage bill in 2009, shepherding it to passage twice more, by a vote of 89–52 in May, and by a vote of 88–51 in December. O'Donnell introduced the Marriage Equality bill in the Assembly for the 2011–2012 legislative session on May 10, 2011. The Marriage Equality Act was passed by the NYS Assembly on June 15, 2011, and passed the NYS Senate and was signed into law by Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...

slightly before midnight on Friday, June 24, 2011. O'Donnell was the prime sponsor of the Dignity for All Students Act, one of the first laws in New York history to explicitly include protections based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation. In 2019, New York enacted his legislation to ban the so-called gay and trans "panic" defense, which asks a jury to find that a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity is to blame for a defendant's violent reaction, including even murder. One year later, the legislature passed O'Donnell's bill requiring single-occupancy bathrooms to be gender-neutral, and Governor Andrew Cuomo signed it into law. Beginning in 2017, O'Donnell introduced legislation to repeal 50-a, which prevents the public disclosure of police records. The legislation languished until 2020, when the

murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...

renewed campaigns for repeal. On June 10, the New York State Legislature voted to repeal 50-a and on June 12, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed to repeal the law. The law repeals 50-a in its entiretyallowing individuals, lawyers, and the press to request police disciplinary files that have long been held in secret. Additional legislative victories include: successfully lowering NYC speed limits to 25 mph; expanding sexual harassment protections to unpaid interns; mandating mental health discharge plans for incarcerated individuals; and passing the Domestic Violence Escalation Prevention Act, which bans individuals convicted of domestic violence from owning any type of firearm. In November 2023, O'Donnell announced that he would not seek reelection to the New York State Assembly and wouldl retire from electoral politics in January 2025.

Controversy

On May 23, 2023, Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell made a comment to Assemblymember Catalina Cruz that offended her as the Assemblyman walked out of the committee meeting on codes chaired by Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz. The bill (sponsored by Assemblymember Amy Paulin) being debated was regarding police officers seizing guns owned by suspects during domestic violence situations. The members of the codes committee were also debating how many votes it needed to forward the bill out of committee onto the assembly floor for a vote. Cruz voted differently than O'Donnell. Following the vote, as O'Donnell exited the voting room, O'Donnell whispered to her, "Grow a pair, honey." O'Donnell was sanctioned by Speaker

Carl Heastie Carl Edward Heastie (; born September 25, 1967) is an American politician from New York. Heastie has served in the New York State Assembly since January 2001, and was elected Speaker of the New York State Assembly on February 3, 2015. Early l ...

for his actions.

Personal life

O'Donnell is gay and advocates for LGBTQ rights. On January 29, 2012, O'Donnell married his partner of 31 years, John Banta, whom he met at

Catholic University Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical univers ...

. The ceremony and reception were attended by over 400 people including Governor

, Assembly Speaker

Sheldon Silver Sheldon Silver (February 13, 1944 – January 24, 2022) was an American Democratic Party politician, attorney, and convicted felon from New York City who served as Speaker of the New York State Assembly from 1994 to 2015. A native of Manhattan' ...

, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, Attorney General

, New York City Council Speaker

Christine Quinn Christine Callaghan Quinn (born July 25, 1966) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she formerly served as the Speaker of the New York City Council. The third person to hold this office, she was the first female and fi ...

, many of his colleagues from the Assembly and State Senate, family, and friends. The couple were married by

Judith Kaye Judith Ann Kaye ( Smith; August 4, 1938 – January 7, 2016) was an American lawyer, jurist and the longtime Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, serving in that position from 1993 to 2008. She was the first woman to serve as chief j ...

, the former chief justice of the state Court of Appeals. In 2011, O'Donnell was featured in ''

Out Magazine ''Out'' is an American LGBTQ news, fashion, entertainment, and lifestyle magazine, with the highest circulation of any LGBTQ monthly publication in the United States. ''Out'' was owned by Robert Hardman of Boston, its original investor, until 2 ...

s "Out 100," the magazine's list of the year's 100 most inspiring individuals. He has been interviewed in periodicals for the "Bear" community.Michael Goldberg, "Danny O'Donell: Attorney, Assemblyman ... Bear!" ''A Bear's Life'' Autumn 2005, Cover, 18–19.

References

External links

O'Donnell's NY State Assembly web pageState Assembly 69th district map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Daniel J. 1960 births American people of Irish descent CUNY School of Law alumni American gay politicians George Washington University alumni LGBTQ Roman Catholics LGBTQ state legislators in New York (state) Living people Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly People from Flushing, Queens Politicians from Queens, New York People from Morningside Heights, Manhattan People from Commack, New York People from Greenpoint, Brooklyn Public defenders 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature 21st-century American LGBTQ people American LGBTQ rights activists Anti-bullying activists Transgender rights activists