POLITICS
Anti-LGBTQ Pol Steven Matteo Flies Under the Radar
Transphobic Staten Island councilmember is on the rise, seeks borough presidency
BY MATT TRACY
Republican City Councilmember
Steven Matteo of Staten Island has
managed to climb the ranks of New
York City politics with the help of his
colleagues — and he may still be on the way up
— despite demonstrating a transphobic bias not
often seen in the local political arena.
The 42-year-old second-term lawmaker, who
became minority leader in 2015 and is running
for borough president in 2021, has sought to
stymie queer rights in a myriad of ways: He has
opposed numerous bills related to transgender
and gender nonconforming people in the city,
broke with dozens of his City Council colleagues
in 2014 when he refused to boycott the St. Patrick’s
Day Parade’s for its ban — since lifted,
thanks to the boycott — on LGBTQ groups, and
last year lobbied Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor
Andrew Cuomo to make an exception to
a city and state ban on non-essential publiclyfunded
travel to North Carolina after that state
passed a “bathroom bill” prohibiting trans folks
from using publicly-accessible facilities aligned
with their gender identity.
Matteo’s anti-LGBTQ actions have largely gone
unchecked — with out gay City Council Speaker
Corey Johnson last year appointing him chair of
the Committee on Standards and Ethics.
JOHN MCCARTEN/ NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL
Staten Island City Councilmember Steven Matteo has demonstrated
hostility to the rights of the LGBTQ community, particularly
transgender folks, during his six years in offi ce.
The Staten Island Republican’s role as that
committee’s chair became problematic when
Matteo was in the position of overseeing an Ethics
Committee probe earlier this year into homophobic
Bronx Councilmember Ruben Diaz,
Sr.’s infl ammatory assertion that the “homosexual
community” controls the city’s lawmaking
body.
In April, two months after the Pentecostal
minister’s comments surfaced, Matteo ignored
Gay City News’ requests for details about the
status of that investigation. Nothing has appeared
to emerge from that probe, and Diaz and
Matteo share a track record of opposing LGBTQ
rights.
Matteo’s history of rejecting trans rights legislation
dates back to at least June of 2016 when
he joined fellow Staten Island Councilmember
Joseph Borelli as the only lawmakers to vote
against a bill requiring that all publicly-available
single-occupant bathrooms in the city be
designated as gender-neutral.
Matteo’s opposition to the rights of marginalized
groups only broadened from there. In 2017,
he voted against a Council resolution calling
on the State Education Department to create a
task force to create core content that is LGBTQaffi
rming and challenges racism, ableism, and
sexism.
Later that year, he voted against legislation
requiring the Mayor’s Offi ce of Operations to review
forms at city agencies to determine whether
they should be updated to include voluntary
questions about people’s gender pronouns.
Then, in 2018, Matteo opposed legislation allowing
folks to alter their birth certifi cates to
refl ect their gender identity. That historic piece
of transgender rights legislation gave folks the
opportunity to change their gender designation
to male, female, or X, signifying a non-binary
identity.
➤ STEVEN MATTEO, continued on p.9
SPORTS
SI Yankees Ditch Chick-fi l-A, Introduce Pride Jerseys
Minor league club caves to pressure from Staten Island Pride Center
BY MATT TRACY
Out with Chick-fi l-A and in with the
rainbow jerseys.
The Staten Island Yankees severed
their partnership with the anti-
LGBTQ fast food chain, according to the Pride
Center of Staten Island, and instead unveiled
plans to wear jerseys with rainbow-colored pinstripes
on Pride night August 30.
The team announced on August 20 that
players are slated to wear the jerseys during
the team’s matchup against the Hudson Valley
Renegades at 7 p.m. on the fi nal Friday of the
month. The team is offering a $20 Pride Night
package featuring a ticket and voucher for a
rainbow-colored Staten Island Yankees hat,
and half of the proceeds from those packages
will benefi t the Pride Center of Staten Island.
YOU CAN PLAY
This rendering depicts the rainbow-colored jerseys that will be
worn by Staten Island Yankees players on Pride Night August 30.
Folks can use the promo code “Pride19” to receive
the voucher that can be used to pick up
the hat.
You Can Play, an organization that promotes
inclusion in sports and has worked with dozens
of minor league clubs on their Pride night promotions
this season, will sponsor the rainbow
jerseys. At least one of the game-worn rainbowcolored
jerseys will be auctioned off after the
game and those proceeds will benefi t You Can
Play.
Sarah Kogod, who works for You Can Play,
told Gay City News that she came up with the
idea of the rainbow-colored jerseys during a
brainstorming session with team offi cials earlier
this season.
“I never thought I would get a yes, but I got an
immediate yes,” Kogod explained. “It was such a
no brainer for them.”
The team has hosted Pride night since 2015,
➤ STATEN ISLAND YANKS, continued on p.9
August 29 - September 11, 8 2019 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
