By KIMBERLY ACEVEDO
After his party-line nomination in August, Borman, an openly gay man, faced opposition from the Republicans. When his lack of experience came under fire from the Nassau County Legislature's Minority Leader Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa), Borman said, "It surprised anyone that knew me."
Through a spokesperson, Schmitt publicly stated that Borman had a lack of experience in the human rights field. Schmitt added that his criticism didn't pertain to Borman's sexual orientation.
Schmitt was unable to be reached for comment as of press time.
When the vote was unanimous, Borman said he was "surprised" and believed "it would be a 10 to 9 vote with the Republicans voting against me."
But after the vote, Borman said, "I was happy and I thought it was good and that I deserved it. There was a lot of support from the people in the community."
And, he believes, he can bring the fresh perspective to the Human Rights Commission. Borman said he brings the perspective of a gay person who grew up and was educated on Long Island. A leading activist and advocate in the HIV/AIDS community, Borman said his background includes racism, discrimination, bias, homophobia, HIV/AIDS and stigmas.
Borman, who founded the Nassau County Lesbian and Gay Democrats in 1999, will be the first openly gay man to sit on the Human Rights Commission, Nassau County Spokesperson David Chauvin said.
"We are delighted to have Bill Borman serve in this capacity," Chauvin said. "We look forward to his contributions to the Human Rights Commission. We are also excited that he received bi-partisan support on his appointment. It's the right direction for Nassau County."
Borman, an attorney, has served as a member in chair for the Citizen for Free Rights, a non-partisan organization. He has also served as chair to the Nassau Coalition for Human Rights since 1999.
With the support of the Nassau County Legislature's Majority Leader Judy Jacobs in December 2000, Borman was responsible for amending the Nassau County Human Rights Law to include sexual orientation as one of the protected classes, next to gender and race.
"I thank everyone that supported me," Borman said. "I think it was the strong support from the community at large coupled with the interview before hand that put them over."
