➤ DATA COLLECTION, from p.14
they look forward “to working with
the Council on developing legislation
to help address the needs of
our clients,” but did not specify how
they believe it should be changed.
A series of testy exchanges
emerged during the hearing, fi rst
when Rosenthal asked if a shelter
provider has, in accordance
with state regulations, submitted
a plan regarding how they work
with TGNC individuals. Evasive
answers prompted Rosenthal to
ask the questions multiple times
before the agency scrambled to respond
and fi nally acknowledged a
plan was indeed submitted.
The tensest moment, however,
arose when Rosenthal pointed out
complaints she has heard about
trans people being turned away
from domestic violence shelters because
of discriminatory reasons,
such as the pitch of an applicant’s
voice. Holm, in response, curiously
claimed that when providers are
assessing potential residents, a determination
is made whether the
“individual or family is a good fi t
for both.”
DSS chief special services offi cer Annette Holm speaks during a City Council hearing on September 24.
Rosenthal quickly fi red back,
asking, “What does that mean?”
Holm then said, “What that
means is, you have people who say,
‘I want to come into a domestic violence
shelter,’ but they don’t understand
that there are rules associated
with coming into the shelter.”
Rosenthal, clearly taken aback,
asked, “Are you saying trans women
don’t understand the rules?”
Holm said that was “absolutely
not” what she was saying, but rather
NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL
that “anyone who comes into our
system has to abide by confi dentiality
rules, that they cannot share
the address, and at that particular
point in time the shelter and the
individual work together to make
sure it is a good fi t for both.”
Rosenthal’s question holds particular
signifi cance at a time when
the Trump administration is pushing
a proposal to give shelters nationwide
the ability to reject admission
to trans people and Housing
and Urban Development Secretary
Ben Carson is reportedly making
transphobic complaints about
“big, hairy men” invading women’s
homeless shelters.
Immediately following the conclusion
of the hearing, Rosenthal
told Gay City News that her exchange
with Holm was “a crucial
moment” and that she was hearing
“general words that don’t get at the
heart of the issue.”
Rosenthal noted that there would
be adjustments to the bill based on
the hearing and that she intends
to submit subsequent follow-up
questions to the administration.
She said she was ultimately “very
disappointed that they didn’t acknowledge
the reality that transgender
people have in the system.”
The legislation in its current
state lacks language about sexual
orientation, but when asked,
Rosenthal claimed to Gay City
News that it should “defi nitely”
cover “both” sexual orientation
and gender identity. The following
day, Rosenthal said she submitted
a request to update the legislation
to include lesbian, gay, and bisexual
people in the reporting.
One of the Top 10 hospitals in the U.S.
is here in Brooklyn
Brooklyn, NY
In 2018 & 2019, the federal government listed Maimonides among
the Top 10 health systems in the U.S. for survival rates.
Get the facts at: Top10Hospital.org
GayCityNews.com | September 26 - October 9, 2019 15
/Top10Hospital.org
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