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Who

Diaz is a state senator representing the South Bronx. He's also an influential Bronx community leader, minister, outspoken opponent of gay rights, and one of New York's most venal state legislators. His son is state Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, Jr.

Backstory

Born in Puerto Rico, Diaz moved to New York after serving in the U.S. Army. Following college, he was ordained as a minister and headed up the Church of God congregation in the Bronx; he also founded, in 1977, the Christian Community Benevolent Society, which provides services to senior citizens. Diaz moved into the political realm in 1993 when then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani appointed him to a three-year term on the city's Civilian Complaint Review Board, the group that investigates charges of police brutality. In 2001, Diaz was elected to the New York City Council and won a seat representing New York's 32nd district in the State Senate the following year. He currently serves on the social services, higher education, and children and families committees.

Of note

Despite his nominal Democratic status and his fairly liberal leanings on fiscal issues, Diaz has earned a reputation as the most conservative Democrat in the State Senate for his Falwell-worthy positions on social issues. A leader of the evangelical movement in the Bronx's Latino community, he's gained the most attention for his strident opposition to gay marriage specifically and gay rights generally. He sued the city over the creation of Harvey Milk High School in 2003, led a gathering of Hispanic Christians on the steps of the Bronx courthouse to protest gay marriage in 2004, and even threatened to retract his endorsement of Freddie Ferrer over his support for gay marriage in 2005. Suffice it to say he won't be inviting fellow Boricua Ricky Martin over for arroz con pollo anytime soon.

Drama

Diaz is fluent not only in English and Spanish, but also in the universal language of corruption. He's come under fire for funneling more than $1 million worth of state grants to the Christian Community Benevolent Society and another non-profit group he established, Soundview Community in Action; Diaz and his son, Ruben Diaz, Jr., have been accused of using the staff and budgets of the groups for their own personal projects (such as $5,000 for new furniture for his district office), and also of vindictively cutting off funds to Soundview after the group's leader spoke out against Diaz. In 2004, an ally of a political rival accused him of not living in the Bronx district he represents and sued him in federal court; a judge later dismissed the case, not because he found Diaz actually lived in his district, but because he said the case belonged in a state court. And in early 2007, both he and his son came under investigation from the FBI for allegedly forging voter records and petitions.

Personal

Diaz and his wife Leslie Yvette Diaz live on Glebe Avenue in the Bronx. (Leslie once served on Christian Community's board; she resigned following a state investigation into the group's activities.) Diaz was previously married to Didionilda Vega, with whom he has three children: Damaris Diaz Kiley, an NYPD sergeant; Samuel, a staffer at the New York City Housing Authority; and Ruben Jr., a state assemblyman whose district overlaps with his dad's.