POLITICS
LGBTQ Leaders Outline Expectations for Hochul
Lawmakers, advocacy groups stress importance of prioritizing LGBTQ youth
BY MATT TRACY
LGBTQ leaders and out
state lawmakers are
outlining their expectations
for Governor Kathy
Hochul as she settles into her new
position as New York’s 57th governor
— and much of the focus is on
queer youth.
Hochul — the fi rst woman to
serve as the state’s governor —
sought to swiftly mark the dawn of
a new era after she took offi ce on
August 24 following the resignation
of disgraced ex-governor Andrew
Cuomo. Donning white in a
nod to the women’s suffrage movement,
the former lieutenant governor
held a ceremonial swearing-in
ceremony and vowed to stand up
for individuals in the workplace,
from women to “members of the
LGBTQ community who often feel
they’ve been preyed upon by others.”
Hochul also took to Twitter on
the same day to acknowledge the
76th birthday of the late trans icon
Marsha P. Johnson, writing, “May
we continue to honor her legacy by
ensuring full equality & justice for
all LGBTQ New Yorkers.”
The newly minted governor
has her work cut out for her in
her quest to carry out that goal.
Hochul is entering offi ce during a
busy year for LGBTQ rights initiatives
in the state, but the work is
far from fi nished. Most notably,
the Gender Recognition Act, signed
into law in June, gave New Yorkers
the ability to update state IDs and
birth certifi cates with an “x” gender
designation, and the state also
repealed a discriminatory loitering
law described as a ban on “walking
while trans.”
However, a series of LGBTQrelated
initiatives never made it
full circle, including the Survivors
of Traffi cking Attaining Relief
Together (START) Act, which is
aimed at vacating convictions for
sex traffi cking victims. That measure
passed both houses of the
State Legislature, but the governor
never signed it. Another unfi nished
legislative effort, led by out
New York Governor Kathy Hochul speaks to the media after taking her swearing-in ceremony on August 24.
gay State Senator Jabari Brisport
of Brooklyn, would implement a
pilot program to provide supportive
services and cash payments to
homeless or runaway youth — a
population that is disproportionately
represented by LGBTQ individuals.
That bill has yet to clear
the State Assembly after passing
the State Senate.
Out gay State Assemblymember
Daniel O’Donnell of Manhattan,
who spearheaded the Gender Recognition
Act in the lower chamber
and was a leader the effort to pass
marriage equality, told Gay City
News he is confi dent that Hochul
will be supportive of the community’s
needs once she gets established
into her role. But he also made it
clear that he expects Hochul to
address “an explosion of suicide
among LGBTQ youth” and ramp
up funding for The Dignity for All
Students Act, an anti-bullying bill
that passed years ago but has yet
to get suffi cient fi nancial backing
from the executive branch.
“The problem is that New York
State never attached money to that
bill, which has proven to be a great
diffi culty,” O’Donnell said. “We need
to fund Dignity by having a governor
or employee of the State Department
to make sure that reports
are coming in, make sure data is
there, and provide assistance for local
agencies. We regularly hear that
school districts are ignored.”
REUTERS/EDUARDO MUNOZ
O’Donnell’s colleague, out lesbian
Assemblymember Deborah
Glick of Manhattan, also gave the
new governor a vote of confi dence,
describing her as a “smart, steely,
and compassionate” leader. Glick
echoed O’Donnell’s emphasis on
assisting queer youth.
“For me, we are still doing too
little to help young LGBTQ New
Yorkers who face uncertain futures
when their families reject them,”
Glick told Gay City News. “Issues of
homelessness, and barriers to education,
job training, or jobs need
our collective energy.”
Brisport recalled meeting Hochul
for the fi rst time when he toured
Stonewall House, an LGBTQfriendly
affordable housing residence
for seniors in Fort Greene,
Brooklyn, which is in his district.
Brisport offered a broader outlook
on the new governor, explaining
that the LGBTQ community would
greatly benefi t from the implementation
of universal healthcare —
especially during a global pandemic
— and he urged his colleagues
to advance Brooklyn State Senator
Julia Salazar’s legislation to ban
many landlords from evicting tenants
without “good cause.”
“If Hochul really wants to make
a marked difference from the previous
governor, she will need to be
fi ghting for everyday working class
New Yorkers and not just a handful
of billionaires,” Brisport said in
a phone interview.
Outside of the fi ve boroughs, the
LGBTQ community hopes that a
governor who hails from Buffalo
will bring a statewide perspective
to queer issues. Out gay State Assemblymember
Harry Bronson,
whose district includes Rochester,
said he wants the governor to boost
funding for runaway and homeless
youth as well as for health and
human services in the state. LGBTQ
owned businesses, he said,
need to be able to access state contracts,
and he called for passage
of his legislation — alongside out
gay State Senator Brad Hoylman of
Manhattan — that would establish
a long-term care facility residents’
bill of rights for LGBTQ folks.
One of Bronson’s longer-term
goals is to ensure long-lasting support
of the 340B program, under
which drug companies participating
in Medicaid are required to sell
discounted drugs to managed care
providers. That program allows
community-based health providers
to instead spend that money on
other services.
Local health centers sounded
alarms when the state was considering
overhauling the 340B
program several months ago, but
the state wound up delaying those
changes for at least another year.
“The past governor tried to strip
that program a number of times,”
said Bronson, who emphasized the
impact of the 340B program on
health centers in his district. “We
have been able to avoid that, but
this past year we only got a one-year
extension. We have to work hard to
make sure the new governor does
not try to attack that program under
the guise of saving money.”
Housing Works, which serves
New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS
and experiencing homelessness,
was one of the main organizations
fi ghting against changes to the
340B program earlier this year.
After Hochul took offi ce, Housing
Works wasted no time in placing
pressure on the new governor for
a different issue by delivering her
➤ HOCHUL, continued on p.5
AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 8,4 2021 | GayCityNews.com
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