ADVOCACY
Elisa Crespo to Lead New Pride Agenda
Statewide advocacy group hires fi rst executive director
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
Out trans former Bronx
City Council candidate
Elisa Crespo has been
tapped as the executive
director of the statewide LGBTQ
advocacy group the New Pride
Agenda.
Last year Crespo launched a
historic campaign to become the
fi rst out trans lawmaker in the city
— and although she did not win
her bid to represent Bronx’s 15th
City Council District, her platform
brought attention to critical issues
facing the LGBTQ community. She
will now look to shine a spotlight
on queer issues in her new role
with New Pride Agenda, which begins
on July 1.
Doug Wirth, the board chair of
the New Pride Agenda and CEO of
Amida Care, a non-profi t health and
coordinated care plan serving New
York City Medicaid members with
chronic conditions, said Crespo’s
background in LGBTQ politics made
her an appropriate pick for the job.
“New Pride Agenda is in a growth
phase, expanding our reach and
impact,” Wirth said in a written
statement. “We are excited to bring
Elisa on board because her experience,
energy, and commitment to
the LGBTQ community and transgender
causes — which are widereaching
and deep — are exactly
what we need to move our organization
and advocacy efforts and
impacts forward.”
Crespo told Gay City News that
she is honored to step up in this
role — and she feels that her personal
experiences have prepared
Elisa Crespo is joining the New Pride Agenda as the group’s executive director.
her to fi ght on behalf of vulnerable
populations.
“I’m thrilled to be coming on as
the fi rst executive director of the
New Pride Agenda,” Crespo told Gay
City News. “I’ve lived on the margins
of society. I know what it’s like
to feel unseen, to feel unheard.”
Crsepo also stressed the importance
of diverse leadership in the
community.
“It’s really important in terms of
representation that we have transled
organizations,” she said. “Unfortunately,
that’s still something
that’s not very common in society,
and in this work, it’s important
for young trans people of color
to see that they can be leaders in
this movement, whether that be
on the ground as a frontline activist
or whether that be in politics or
whether that be in policy work as
an executive director of a statewide
organization.”
While in this post, Crespo will
ELISA CRESPO
be tasked with advocating for sex
worker rights, the allocation of resources
toward LGBTQ youth, and
the expansion of access to PrEP to
help end the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Furthermore, she is prioritizing
public health, housing, and jobs,
while denouncing police violence.
In acknowledging the broad scope
of queer issues, she is also hoping
to bring attention to LGBTQ advocacy
in upstate New York. She said
the group is seeking to hire organizers
and board members outside
of New York City.
“Sometimes we forget about our
siblings who live upstate or in Long
Island, in conservative communities,
and how impactful policymaking
is for them,” she said. “We
feel it’s really important to build a
statewide coalition and work with
our allies to continue applying
pressure so we can create a New
York where marginalized queer
people aren’t overlooked or ignored,
but in fact are respected and valued
for who we are and what we
bring to the table.”
Crespo said she will push for
inclusive and age-appropriate sex
education and the improvement
of the conditions of incarcerated
trans people, including demands
to house folks in accordance with
their gender identity. She will also
advocate for the Dignity for All Students
Act, a measure that would
address anti-LGBTQ bullying in
schools, and the Stop Violence in
the Sex Trades Act, a comprehensive
bill to decriminalize sex work.
“The Stop Violence in the Sex
Trades Act is very important to me
personally,” she said. “Protecting sex
workers is something that New Pride
Agenda is very much focused on.”
She added, “I’m looking forward
to making sure that we advance
these pieces of legislation that are
going to be life-changing — particularly
for trans people.”
Crespo has worked to advocate
for students with disabilities in the
offi ce of Bronx Borough President
Ruben Diaz, Jr. and also interned
in the City Council and for Assembly
Speaker Carl Heastie. Last
year, Crespo told Gay City News
she went to Albany to advocate for
the now-repealed ban on “Walking
While Trans,” a loitering law used
to unfairly target trans women of
color. Crespo met with Heastie to
garner his support for the legislation.
During her City Council
campaign, she advocated for the
decriminalization of sex work, the
HALT Act to ban solitary confi nement,
and other issues.
The New Pride Agenda launched
in 2019 to build support for LGBTQ
issues and policies in the
state legislature. During the pandemic,
the New Pride Agenda held
several virtual programs focused
on COVID-19, substance use, individuals
living with HIV, and seniors.
In April, New Pride Agenda
hosted a Zoom town hall meeting
led by Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer to push for the
passage of the Equality Act, a bill
that would build on the Bostock
Supreme Court ruling last summer
and establish comprehensive
nondiscrimination protections for
LGBTQ Americans.
“Most importantly, our focus is
fi ghting for those who are most
vulnerable, and that is transgender,
non-binary people who identify
as Black and Brown,” Crespo
said. “We hope to work with others
who are doing the work to build a
diverse and a strong coalition so
that we can continue to advance
the work for our people because
the fi ght is never over.”
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