Public Advocate de Blasio Defends Marriage, Calls Wife 'Brave'

After the revelation of a 1979 essay titled “I Am a Lesbian,” penned by the wife of Public Advocate Bill de Blasio caused a media whirlwind, the pair say they are proud of their marriage and family, according to the New York Daily News.

The mayoral hopeful and his wife, Chirlane McCray, have been speaking out about how she identified with the lesbian community in the 1970s and penned the deeply personal essay for Essence magazine.

“Chirlane in her youth wrote an incredibly powerful article and it was brave, and I admire her for it. And it was one of the reasons I fell in love with her. She had the strength to stand up,” de Blasio said on Fox’s “Good Day New York.”

McCray, who hasn’t been vocal about her sexuality in recent years, said that she wasn’t ashamed for her activism or her past.

“When I look back and I step back, and I think about how young I was and what the world was like in 1979, I’m proud of what I was able to do. I was able to project my voice and proclaim my space in the world. And I hope that young people who are out there struggling with their identity . . . take heart from that,” she said on “Good Day New York.”

The couple says they hope that their story helps to foster acceptance of all types of families and identities.

The public advocate blasted the New York Post for running a derogatory cartoon of himself and McCray, telling “Inside City Hall” he would not be interested in the paper’s endorsement unless its editors issued an apology.