Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

LGBT

LGBT

  • How the Adams Administration and New City Council Must Uplift LGBTQ Older New Yorkers

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    Celebrating LGBTQ-friendly senior housing (photo: SAGE)


    Today, too many older New Yorkers remain invisible. Older people in New York City are often cast aside, despite their incredible civic, economic, and political contributions to our communities and the fact that the 60-and-over population is growing five times faster than the under-18 population.

    This is especially true for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) elders, who make a strong presence in New York. ...

  • Mend the Health Care Safety Net for LGBTQ New Yorkers

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    The NYC LGBT Community Center (photo: LGBT Community Center)


    LGBTQ New Yorkers are facing a unique and urgent health care challenge. We already experience significant health disparities, and as a result of COVID-19, the organizations that exist to address those disparities statewide are hanging by a thread. Lawmakers have worked with the community for years to ensure these organizations can serve the nearly 1 million of us who call this state

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  • Wave of LGBT Candidates Eyes City Council Seats in 2021 Elections

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    City Council members at a Pride march (photo: Emil Cohen/City Council)


    The City Council’s LGBT Caucus could shrink after the 2021 elections, with all five current caucus members -- including Council Speaker Corey Johnson -- prevented by term limits from running for reelection next year, when all of city government will be on the ballot. However, there are more than a dozen openly LGBTQ candidates running throughout the city to replenish and perhaps grow the ranks of LGBTQ representation in city government, encouraged by advocates and current Council members who ...

  • Effort Launched to Elect LGBTQ Members to City Council

     

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     (photo: @RitchieTorres)


    On the steps of City Hall Wednesday afternoon, a coalition of LGBTQ rights advocates and current and former City Council members announced the launch of an initiative to elect queer candidates to the Council in 2021, when 35 seats will be open because of term limits.

    There are currently five members of the 51-member City Council who identify as LGBT, all of whom are a part of the body’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Caucus, and all of whom are not elligible for reelection to the Council: Speaker Corey Johnson and

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  • Anti-LGBT City Council Members Given Prominent Positions

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    Above: Corey Johnson and Fernando Cabrera (photo: William Alatriste) (photo below: John McCarten)


    When new City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, the first openly gay and openly HIV-positive person to hold the powerful position, unveiled his leadership team and Council committee assignments, he appointed two anti-LGBT Council members to chair committees, and named one to senior leadership in the 51-member legislative body. The moves seemed to have raised few eyebrows despite the stark contrast with Johnson’s life story and

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  • The Week Ahead in New York Politics, March 21

    New York City Hall

    New York City Hall


    What to watch for this week in New York politics:

    This week will be another busy one when it comes to budgets: the City Council continues its preliminary budget hearings and state budget negotiations enter their final ten days - a state budget is due by April 1 and some say a deal could be announced before the end of this week. Don't count on it, though, state budgets usually come in just before (or, as was the case last year, just after) the March 31 midnight

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  • To Eradicate Sex Trafficking, Prosecute the Pimps and Buyers

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    Lauren Hersh, the author (at podium), and other activists 


    Sarah was 13 years old when she was lured into prostitution by two men from her New York City neighborhood. For the next two years, she was sold to buyers who were eager to purchase her adolescent body. Her pimp required her to meet a quota and when she didn't, she was brutalized.

    There were many moments when Sarah tried to leave the life of prostitution. Each time, her exploiter would threaten to harm her or worse, her little sister. Sarah felt helpless and trapped. So, she stayed.

    Sarah was

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  • A Case for None-Time-Limited Supportive Housing for Young Adults

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    Mayor de Blasio with the city's mental health plan (photo: Mike Appleton)


    Recently there has been a great deal of interest in young adult supportive housing without time limits or age caps. We may be witnessing the beginning stages of a paradigm shift in which there is acknowledgement of developmental variations among youth. Both Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and United States Interagency Council on Housing (USICH) consider this as a potentially more effective approach to ending youth homelessness.

    Traditionally, housing for

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  • Resignation Highlights City Council Gender Imbalance

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    Speaker Mark-Viverito & others announce Young Women's Initiative (photo: William Alatriste)


    City Council Member Maria del Carmen Arroyo recently announced she will resign at the end of the year in order to attend to family matters. In vacating her seat, which she has held since 2005, Arroyo creates uncertainty about who will represent her Bronx district, but also brings to the forefront a larger issue about political representation in New York City: the number of women in the City

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  • The Week Ahead in New York Politics, October 26

    New York City Hall

    New York City Hall


    What to watch for this week in New York politics:

    This week will be dominated by the World Series, we know that. The New York Mets begin their quest for the title against the Royals in Kansas City on Tuesday night, followed by another game in KC on Wednesday and then games in Queens on Friday, Saturday, and, if necessary, Sunday. If the series continues, games six and seven would be the following Tuesday and Wednesday (Nov. 3 and 4) back in Kansas City. On Sunday,

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  • The Week Ahead in New York Politics, April 27

    New York City Hall

    New York City Hall


    What to watch for this week in New York politics:

    • Ongoing legislative session in Albany - legislators will be in Albany Monday through Wednesday this week for session
      • major issues at play include mayoral control of schools, rent regulations, the charter school cap, the minimum wage,
    ...