New Yorkers United for Marriage released several photos of former first daughter Chelsea Clinton phone banking in support of the legalization of same-sex marriage last night, including the shot that appears below.

(I believe the guy next to Clinton is Michael DeLoach, a former Paterson administration aide who is now working for Healthcare Education Project, the joint political arm of SEIU 1199 and the Greater New York Hospital Association. The phone bank took place at 1199′s HQ in Manhattan).

Clinton’s activism on the gay marriage front is new this year. She has generally opted to stay out of the spotlight, although she did campaign for her mother, now-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, during her 2008 presidential campaign.

Chelsea Clinton’s volunteer stint yesterday came on the heels of her father’s announcement of support for passage of a gay marriage bill in New York. She responded to the news in the following statement, released by 1199:

“I was very grateful that my father gave me yet another reason to be proud,” Chelsea told her fellow volunteers. “It was the happiest day of my life to marry my best friend, and I believe every New Yorker should have that right.” (Clinton married her longtime boyfriend, Marc Mezvinsky, in Rhinebeck last July).

“Thank you all for being here this evening to thank your representatives. I know that we’ll get there, and hopefully before the summer,” she continued. “I couldn’t think of a better first year anniversary present.”

As I reported yesterday, these phone banks will be a twice-weekly occurrance and are part of the coordinated effort to get the Senate to pass a marriage bill before the session ends in June.

ChelseaPhonebanking

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