ACTIVISM
Reclaim Pride Pivots to COVID-19 Relief in Queer NY
LGBTQ resistance organizers mobilize to address spike in LGBTQ housing, food needs
BY MATT TRACY
Members of the Reclaim
Pride Coalition,
which hosted
the fi rst Queer Liberation
March on Pride Sunday last
June, have temporarily redirected
their focus from organizing a second
event for this year’s Pride to
assisting queer folks who are facing
emergency needs during the
coronavirus crisis.
“Once the crisis started hitting
the community and the reality of
what we were facing settled in, we
were able to pivot and say, ‘Actually,
we don’t know if there is going
to be a public gathering of Pride
this year,’” Quito Ziegler, a member
of the Reclaim Pride Coalition,
said in an interview with Gay City
News.
So, the Coalition is pausing its
negotiations with the NYPD about
Pride festivities.
“We decided to suspend the primary
organizing of Pride for a minute
and make sure our people were
OK.”
The Reclaim Pride Coalition’s Queer Liberation March on June 30, 2019.
To that end, the Coalition is focusing
on supporting three key demographics:
homeless queer youth,
vulnerable Black trans people, and
DONNA ACETO
sex workers who are incarcerated
at Rikers Island. Members are advocating
for the release of those
in detention at a time when the
lack of social distancing in prisons
put them at increased risk for
COVID-19. Homeless individuals
living in shelters are, too, facing
elevated risk for similar reasons:
many are living in environments
where people are in close proximity
and cannot abide by social distancing
guidelines.
Because of the dual health and
economic crises, as well as the
temporary shuttering of many
non-profi ts that have long provided
services to vulnerable populations,
the Coalition has worked to foster
a grassroots network to rally support
for those in need.
That means spreading the word
about mutual aid fundraisers, encouraging
those who have room in
their homes to offer shelter, and
even asking if folks who work at
hotels to explore affordable avenues
of housing in those venues.
At the same time, the Coalition is
also ramping up calls for rent relief.
Quito estimated that at least
70 neighborhood organizations
➤ RECLAIM PRIDE, continued on p.7
CRIME
Trans Woman Fatally Stabbed in East Harlem Park
Overnight attack possibly fueled by earlier argument, but cops won’t comment
BY MATT TRACY
A transgender woman
was fatally stabbed in
a park in East Harlem
during the early morning
hours of March 28, according
to police.
Cops said they responded to a
call of a stabbing in process shortly
after 1:30 a.m. on Saturday morning
at East 128th Street and Third
Avenue on the edge of Harlem River
Park. Offi cers arrived and found a
33-year-old woman stabbed in the
neck. She was transferred to Harlem
Hospital, where she was pronounced
dead.
Multiple news outlets, including
the New York Daily News and New
York Post, reported that the victim
was sitting on a bench in the park
when someone approached her
and the pair engaged in a verbal
altercation.
The suspect allegedly proceeded
to stab the victim before taking off
on a red motorized scooter, but police
did not confi rm details about
the scooter and the altercation
when asked by Gay City News on
March 31, saying only that “the investigation
is active and ongoing.”
Authorities have not released the
name of the victim, citing a need
to notify her family, but a source
in the city’s ballroom community
said she was known there as Lexi
of the House of Ebony.
Beyond what the NYPD initially
reported, details about the murder
are scarce and also contradictory:
No arrests have been made in
the case and police have not identifi
ed a suspect.
The Daily News reported police
are searching for surveillance footage
in the area.
Lavonia Brooks, who was quoted
by the Daily News and the Post and
described as Lexi’s friend, recalled
her as someone who loved petry,
fashion, and makeup.
“I really looked up to her because
of her tolerance and respect,”
Brooks told the Daily News. “Lexi
had a beautiful heart, she was very
gifted.”
The Daily News reported that
Brooks had witnessed an altercation
between Lexi and another
trans woman earlier in the evening
and speculated that led to the fatal
encounter later in the park. The
Post said the altercation Brooks
witnessed happened in the park.
The NYPD would not comment
on either report.
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