➤ BUTTIGIEG & BLACKS, from p.8 ➤ HART ISLAND, from p.8
listing confi rmed names the campaign
listed folks without their
confi rmation, only removing them
if they informed it to do so.
The Intercept story also indicates
that those who were asked
to back the plan were fed misleading
information in an email they
received from the campaign. That
email specifi cally said Buttigieg
was announcing “the support of
over 400 Black South Carolinians
for the plan.” Yet, the list of 400
people did not exclusively consist
of black voters — one analysis suggested
that as many as half of the
names were those of white South
Carolinians.
And, even as the campaign
was eager to list names of those
in support of the plan, it was not
as eager to provide names of those
who spearheaded the plan or were
consulted about it. When asked by
Gay City News who helped create
the plan, the campaign only said
on record that “we sought and received
input from numerous Black
policy experts and advisers.”
In yet another sign of the bungled
rollout of the plan, it was revealed
that the campaign used
stock photos of people in Kenya on
the web page outlining the Douglass
Plan.
The email and press release
emerged around the time a campaign
memo surfaced publicly
indicating that a focus group
of 24 black voters were uneasy
about Buttigieg’s sexual orientation.
That information, reported
by South Carolina’s The State on
October 22 , prompted controversy
about whether it was leaked to
excuse Buttigieg’s lack of support
among African Americans in early
polling in South Carolina and nationwide.
Black queer journalist George
Johnson wrote an op-ed for The
Advocate , saying, “So is homophobia
impacting why certain Black
folks are not taking to Buttigieg?
I’m sure, but using that to whitewash
over all his shortcomings on
race is a poor straw man defense.
Buttigieg continues to act like
many other white politicians before
him who opted to place blame
on Black communities for issues
they are the victims of.”
Those who have traveled to the
island to see their buried loved
ones have faced considerable hurdles
over the years. Visitors are escorted
by Correction offi cers and
are required to leave their phones
behind, preventing them from being
able to take photos.
Among the bills passed on November
14, one piece of legislation
transferred control of the island
from the Department of Correction
to the Department of Parks
and Recreation in an effort to
eradicate those hurdles, including
physical barriers long in place.
Bronx Councilmember Mark
Gjonaj, who represents Hart Island,
opposed that bill along with
Brooklyn Councilmember Chaim
Deutsch, who has an anti-LGBTQ
record. Councilmember Barry
Grodenchik of Queens abstained.
An accompanying bill requires
the Department of Transportation
to make the sites more accessible
by developing a plan to bring ferry
service to the island. The DOT is
required to submit a plan within
one year. That also passed, with
Deutsch and Gjonaj also voting
“no” on that bill. Brooklyn Councilmember
Kalman Yeger abstained.
Another bill, which passed
unanimously, requires the Department
of Social Services to provide
public information and other
resources folks need about their
loved ones buried on the island.
Once the DOC hands over control
of the island, the Department
of Parks and Recreation is expected
to begin restoring the area and
lifting the existing visitor restrictions,
though it is not clear how
long that will take.
“The island was hard to access,
and not exactly a good place to privately
pay respects to loved ones,”
Johnson said in a tweet after the
bills passed. “The plots are full of
immigrants, poor people, and people
who died of AIDS, who are in a
separate area out of the fear surrounding
the epidemic at the time
they were buried. There are no
individual tombstones. No names
indicating the dead… Today, the
@NYCCouncil voted to give them a
respectful, more dignifi ed resting
place, and I’m so proud we did.”
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Mayor
GayCityNews.com | November 21 - November 27, 2019 9
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