HOUSING
LGBTQ Advocates Criticize Shelter Conditions
Trans residents are being deadnamed and misgendered at city shelters, advocates say
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
LGBTQ advocates took to City Hall on
September 27 to demand changes to
the New York City shelter system in
response to what they described as
unsafe housing conditions and a transphobic
atmosphere.
Organizers from the Sylvia Rivera Law Project
(SRLP), the Ghost Project, Destination Tomorrow,
Princess Janae Place, and other trans-led
groups are calling on city leadership — including
Council Speaker Corey Johnson as well as
Mayor Bill de Blasio and his administration’s
Department of Social Services-Department of
Homeless Services (DSS-DHS) — to ramp up efforts
to provide vouchers to help residents leave
hotel shelters, offer reasonable accommodations
for trans and gender-non-conforming individuals,
and put an end to anti-trans harassment,
including misgendering and deadnaming from
shelter staff.
Grandichelli, a disabled trans woman who
lives in a supportive housing shelter in the
Bronx, recalled being abruptly transferred
from a shelter with an elevator to another one
with unreliable service.
“One of the staff members said, ‘bring your
ass downstairs now,’ and I fell down the stairs
because the elevator was out,” said Grandichelli,
who stood with SLRP at City Hall. “You think
they cared? No. They tried to whitewash and
cover that up quick.”
Grandichelli said activists are calling for the
City Council to pass Int. 1233, which would
give advanced written notice for non-emergency
shelter transfers — but that bill was proposed
in 2018 and has not moved since.
At the press conference, activists also condemned
congregate shelters due to the threat
of anti-LGBTQ violence and contracting
COVID-19.
“Putting TGNC people back in congregate settings
is dangerous for us,” Grandichelli said in
a written statement. “The negative treatment,
the harassment, the violence against us — to
put them back into that situation during a pandemic
makes that risk even higher.”
Shnya Unity, an SRLP member and action
organizer, blasted security guards for harassing
her in the shelter system.
“I feel like DHS needs to have more consideration
when it comes to TGNC people because
the security is very disrespectful,” said Unity,
who lives at the Two Bridges shelter in Manhattan.
“When I came down the stairs, they hassle
me or fl irt with me because I’m trans, and when
I don’t want to fl irt, they will call their boss and
say, ‘this t****** is messing with me,’ and all I’m
Trans organizers blasted the Department of Social Services-Department of Homeless Services for allegedly exposing trans residents to
unsafe conditions.
doing is wearing my regular clothes, or if I have
on long nails or a wig.”
Unity also claims security guards subject
trans and gender-non-conforming residents to
invasive procedures when they conduct searches.
“They want to wand your chest and your
breasts; they do it over and again,” she said in
a statement. “It makes me so upset because I
don’t like people touching me they do it because
they want to call us a ‘man’ or a ‘he,’ and it
makes me unsafe there.”
In 2019, the DSS-DHS announced a policy
stating that transgender, gender-non-conforming,
and non-binary individuals would not be
turned away from gender-affi rming facilities or
programs due to their sex assigned at birth.
SYLVIA RIVERA LAW PROJECT
“DHS expects all staff and providers to follow
the requirements in this procedure, as well
as the DSS LGBTQI policy (DSS-PD-2017-01) to
model appropriate behavior at all times,” reads
a policy issued in July 2019. “Staff or client discomfort
about gender, perceived gender, or sexual
orientation must not affect service delivery
or the respectful treatment of clients.”
DSS-DHS told Gay City News that the agency
has been open and responsive to the Sylvia Rivera
Law Project. In a statement, a DSS-DHS
spokesperson did not respond directly to the
criticism but said the department has made
“important progress” on issues affecting LGBTQ
homeless populations and “will continue
to listen to feedback from partners such as the
Sylvia Rivera Law Project.”
October 7 - October 20, 2 14 021 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
