➤ PIERRE, from p.14
and make sure it is fully funded
and to ensure youth throughout
the city are aware that such a program
exists,” Pierre said. “Very often
we have these programs that
are great and I want to see them
fully utilized by the most marginalized
members of our community.”
Nearly one year after an intense
fi ght brewed over police funding
in last year’s city budget, electeds
are preparing to balance another
city budget in the coming months.
Pierre believes there still needs to
be further discussion surrounding
the fate of police funding, and he
says the next budget will present
an opportunity for lawmakers to
evaluate NYPD funding and determine
whether to reallocate those
resources to other areas of need.
Pierre also believes the issue of
decriminalizing sex work — which
has emerged as a top LGBTQ issue
in New York City — is not quite
settled. A legislative proposal at
the state level would comprehensively
decriminalize sex work for
all parties involved — which is a
Josue Pierre and his longtime partner, Corey Weaver, during Pride month in 2016.
key point maintained by advocates
who have made it clear that partial
decriminalization still runs
the risk of police interactions and
hampers efforts to fi ght traffi cking.
Pierre supports removing criminal
JOSUE PIERRE
penalties for sex workers, but he is
not willing to embrace full decriminalization
at the moment.
“Sex work decriminalization is
something that has galvanized a lot
of activists and community members,
which speaks to how important
it is,” Pierre said. “I want to get
into the details of that, as well, to
make sure we’re doing this in the
right way to mainly protect against
sex traffi cking. We haven’t come to
terms on what it would look like in
its fi nal stages.”
In the fi nal stretch of the campaign,
Pierre is in the midst of a
jam-packed race featuring multiple
candidates clamoring for the
open seat. Kenya Handy-Hilliard
leads the pack in funds with an
estimated balance of $178,689,
followed by Edwin Raymond, who
has $142,695, and Pierre, who
has $140,704 on hand, according
to the New York City Campaign
Finance Board. Numerous other
candidates lag behind.
Pierre has welcomed endorsements
from labor unions such as
the United Federation of Teachers,
Communication Workers of
America, and the Retail, Wholesale
and Department Store Union.
The Lambda Independent Democrats
of Brooklyn and the LGBTQ
Victory Fund, which works to elect
queer candidates nationwide, are
also backing him.
1 2 3 4 5
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