Tonight, I attended the Empire State Pride Agenda Fall Dinner, the major fundraiser for the New York organization fighting for LGBT rights. I was dismayed to see US Representative Sean Patrick Maloney invited to speak. When he took the stage, I did something I almost never do. I booed.

I did so in response to his craven and hypocritical political calculations in voting 11 times with the extreme Republicans who shut down our government. This was driven by the fact that he represents a fairly conservative district with a candidate running in 2014 who is sure to get Tea Party money. He had a chance to lead and make the case for what he says he believes in, but instead chose to bow to the worst type of political calculation. He tortures logic and rhetoric to justify siding with the far right, but the truth is that he displayed remarkable cowardice and exhibited a profound lack of leadership. I'm ashamed to have once supported him.