➤ SOUND OFF, from p.11
and runaway LGBTQ youth that
was set to begin this month.
“That was one of the projects we
were working on directly,” Sullivan
said. “And once again the NYPD
is protected. This is going to be a
diffi cult conversation that is going
to continue. The mayor thinks
the debate is over; the City Council
thinks the conversation is over.”
The Stonewall Democratic Club
of New York City, a citywide LGBTQ
political group, in a written
statement, was more measured
in its response. The club said it
shared “the disappointment” surrounding
the budget, agreed that
cuts to the NYPD were too small,
and noted that “we watched the
surface be nicked as a charade
unfolded and monies were shifted
from one agency to another to ensure
the sensitivities of PD brass
remain untarnished.”
The club also voiced criticism of
cuts to social services, education,
and healthcare programs supporting
queer homeless youth, HIV/
AIDS prevention, and affordable
housing.
But while some others placed
blame on both the mayor and
Johnson, the club, led by president
Brian Romero, instead argued
that the Council was left with little
choice.
“Unfortunately, the mayor prioritized
sustaining the militarization
of the police over the protection
and rights of our city’s people and
tied the hands of Council Speaker
Johnson, Councilman Dromm,
and many of the Council members
who support more accountability
of the NYPD,” the club stated.
Another advocate noted the
work of the Council in mitigating
worse case scenarios for the budget.
During the height of the June
protests against racism and police
brutality, José Albino, the executive
director of the Brooklyn-based
Griot Circle, which serves LGBTQ
seniors of color, penned a personal
essay on his organization’s website
recalling his own negative experiences
with white police offi cers
and underscoring the dire need to
slash police funding.
Still, as he watched the budget
process unfold in the midst of the
coronavirus pandemic, he said he
knew cuts to more important services
were forthcoming — despite
his hopes for more funding for
organizations led by and serving
people of color. The situation would
have been worse, he argued, had
there not been a groundswell of
protests demanding that at least
some police funding be shifted to
ameliorating the budget woes facing
community groups.
“If the protests and demands for
defunding the NYPD didn’t happen,
social services would have
suffered tremendously,” Albino
said. “I’m very proud that, while it
took a national movement around
fi ghting for police injustice, the
City Council was on board with reallocating
those funds.”
He added, “The speaker is an
ally of communities of color and is
LGBT so he gets it. I think there
is room for elected offi cials who are
okay with negotiating.”
In the meantime, Albino said the
Griot Circle is enjoying strong support
from private donors, a source
of funding that is far more robust
than the money the group gets
from the City Council, which he described
as “a drop in the bucket.”
In the wake of the budget battle,
what comes next for these organizations
is critical. The team at
EQNY is focused on ways to push
local lawmakers to prioritize the
issues shortchanged in the budget.
The group is preparing a webinar
for its endorsed state legislative
candidates seeking election this
fall in an effort to encourage them
to support grassroots communitybased
organizations in Albany.
EQNY will also direct its attention
to city lawmakers, by asking
them to get onboard with a push
to reduce enforcement of qualityof
life infractions that have a disproportionately
negative impact on
sex workers, homeless people, and
non-violent individuals collared for
drug possession.
City elections in 2021, of course,
are approaching. Count Sullivan
among those who already have
next year’s city races marked on
the calendar.
“It’s a good thing many of the
councilmembers are being turned
out,” he said, adding that the notion
that there are “LGBTQ heroes”
currently serving on the Council is
“nonsense.”
“We know they’re not standing
for LGBTQ young people or the
Black families that have suffered
police violence,” he said.
Attorney Advertising
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GayCityNews.com | July 16 - July 29, 2020 33
/GayCityNews.com
