The head of the city teachers union came out publicly as a lesbian while receiving an award from a gay rights group.
Randi Weingarten - who has been open about her sexuality with friends and colleagues for years - told the Daily News on Friday that she felt her speech during the Empire State Pride Agenda dinner on Thursday was "the right moment" to make it public.
"I wanted to say something that's important, not just say thank you," said Weingarten, 49. "If I was going to try and move an agenda for tolerance, respect and equality, then I needed to walk my own walk."
The leader of the 160,000-member United Federation of Teachers since 1998, Weingarten has become one of the city's most powerful labor leaders and was recently listed among Crain's 25 most powerful women in city business.
In accepting the Douglas W. Jones Community Service Award Thursday, Weingarten recalled a phone call from a colleague suggesting that the state teachers union not take a stand on a proposed constitutional amendment barring gay marriage.
Before explaining that she gave the colleague a piece of her mind, Weingarten told the crowd, "At that point, my sexual orientation was not common knowledge - as it is now."
The audience immediately broke into applause.
Thursday was National Coming Out Day, a day observed by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups for coming out and discussing homosexuality. But Weingarten said the timing of her speech was coincidental.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), who is openly gay and who introduced Weingarten at the dinner, said she "could not have been more proud."
"Her actions last night speak to her personal courage and the fact that in our great city, diversity is seen as a strength, not an impediment," Quinn said.
The public acknowledgment comes as Weingarten takes on a more prominent role nationally. A friend of Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, Weingarten has been named as a possible candidate to succeed Edward McElroy as the president of the American Federation of Teachers.
A former practicing attorney and teacher, Weingarten has tackled numerous gay rights issues while leading the UFT, including the establishment of domestic-partner benefits for municipal workers and adding anti-discrimination language to the teachers' contracts.
But Weingarten, whose partner, Liz Margolies, is a psychotherapist, said she always felt uncomfortable discussing her personal life until this week.
"If I can help stop discriminatory conduct and help create more openness in our society simply by giving the speech I gave last night," she said, "that would be a great moment for me."
