➤ JUMAANE WILLIAMS, from p.8
put forth a plan that still has to be
executed and has to be heavily invested…
When we go into the budgeting
hearing, we need to have a
funding commitment. I think the
funding commission recommended
$10 billion. We should adhere to
that. We have the money. We have
to get it done.”
Beyond criminal justice reform,
Williams further acknowledged
the reality that other issues in the
city disadvantage LGBTQ folks —
he pointed out that “half the people
who are homeless” are queer youth
— and he said problems facing
people of color in the community
are often erased from mainstream
discussion.
Contributing to that invisibility
is a pattern of fi nancial insecurity
facing smaller organizations dedicated
to queer people of color. Griot
Circle , Gay Men of African Descent
, and the Audre Lorde Project
have all been stunted or paused
due to fi nancial constraints and
have only received small pots of
temporary, discretionary funding
from the City Council.
Williams said the problems facing
those organizations are “unfortunate
and not surprising,”
and he stressed the ripple effect of
their limitations, saying the issues
those groups take on “tend to be
left behind.”
“Even when we talk about addressing
HIV/ AIDS, we have done
a tremendous job of getting that
down, but we still need to talk
about how in some communities
that’s not where we need to be yet,”
he said.
While Williams is discussing
queer issues, his opponent
has been actively opposing them.
Borelli has voted against several
LGBTQ-related bills dating back
to his time in the State Assembly
and especially tends to oppose
legislation that benefi ts trans and
gender non-conforming folks. He
has dismissed the concerns queer
folks have raised about donations
by the owners of Chick-fi l-A to homophobic
and transphobic politicians,
calling them “faux outrage
of the left.”
Williams contrasted himself
with Borelli succinctly, saying, “I’d
say I’m a pretty leftist, crazy, former
Bernie delegate and Joe Borelli
was co-chair of Trump campaign
in 2016.”
Williams notably said he is torn
between supporting Vermont Senator
Bernie Sanders again or going
with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth
Warren in 2020, though he
attended Sanders’ Queens rally on
October 19.
Williams’ own record on LGBTQ
issues has improved in recent
years since he came under fi re for
his former opposition to marriage
equality and his abstention from a
2014 bill to allow people to change
the gender designation on their
birth certifi cate. In a 2017 interview
with Gay City News , he said
that his earlier views on LGBTQ
issues, which included opposition
to same-sex marriage, were infl uenced
by religion. To this day his
faith remains deeply important to
him, but he has evolved on queer
issues. Two years ago, Williams explained
that while “Jesus of Nazareth
was a revolutionary fi ghting
for people who are oppressed,
fi ghting to make sure that people
had their voice… religion can be
used for some very bad things, for
slavery, for homophobia, for a lot
of craziness.” Today, he supports
marriage equality and has consistently
provided funding support to
LGBTQ causes as an elected offi -
cial.
“You always want to give people
room to grow and I think I learned
a lot, even before I came to the
Council,” Williams said. “Even
when people slip up, it’s an opportunity
to grow. When people are
afraid to talk, I don’t think they get
out of these situations. Don’t hold
it in. I think that’s important to
have conversations.”
Above all, Williams emphasized,
people should unite to rally around
marginalized folks who could fi nd
their futures in even greater jeopardy
if President Donald Trump
is re-elected and Republicans nationwide
win at the ballot box next
year.
“We’re at a scary time in history
now,” he said. “We have to make
sure everybody is fully protected.
That should be the message everyone
is saying. The further you
are from being a cisgender straight
white man, the more endangered
you are.”
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 | October 24 - November 6, 2019 9
/Top10Hospital.org
/GayCityNews.com
