HONOREE
ROD TOWNSEND
FORMER PRESIDENT, STONEWALL DEMOCRATIC CLUB OF NEW YORK CITY;
MEMBER, QUEENS COMMUNITY BOARD 1
Rod Townsend, who served as president of the Stonewall Democratic
Club of New York City from 2018 until early this year and is a member
of Queens Community Board 1, looks at his civic engagement as a way
to bring New Yorkers together to make real change.
Born and raised in a working class family in Evansville, Indiana, he has lived in New York for 30 years and worked as a
production manager in the home furnishing industry. His life and work experience have given him insight into the barriers
of inequality and affordability faced by too many New Yorkers.
An activist in the successful fi ght for marriage equality, Rod learned the power of organizing, joined progressive LGBTQ
groups, and created a national directory of LGBTQ Democratic clubs like Stonewall.
His two years leading Stonewall were a period of striking change both in the LGBTQ community’s agenda and in the
local power structure. The election of a Democratic State Senate in 2018 allowed the club to realize a number of longtime
goals, including the enactment of the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, a ban on conversion therapy practiced on
minors, and the prohibition on use of the panic defense in murder cases involving LGBTQ victims.
The Democrats’ State Senate victories in 2018 did not come in a vacuum. Stonewall was among the progressive groups
in the state that mounted a grassroots campaign challenging members of the Independent Democratic Conference, which
had aligned itself with the Republicans, giving the GOP control of the Senate leading up to 2018. All but two of the IDC
members were turned out in that year’s Democratic primaries, bringing younger progressive voices to the fore in Albany.
As chair of the Community and Economic Development Committee on Astoria’s Community Board 1, Rod has looked out
for working class residents, voting against housing developments falsely labeled “affordable,” actively advocating for high
paying jobs in the community’s manufacturing areas, and promoting the neighborhood’s many small businesses.
Until this year, his activism on marriage equality, with Stonewall, and on Community Board 1 was what he has described
as “a time-consuming hobby.” That may be about to change. In February, Rod announced that he is seeking the City Council
seat being vacated next year by Costa Constantinides due to term limits. The June 2021 Democratic primary to represent the
22nd District — which encompasses Astoria, East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, and Woodside, along with Rikers Island — is
already shaping up to be a crowded affair.
Rod — the proud parent of a rescued cat and dog and an avid hiker — has said he welcomes the competition.
“The more the merrier,” he told Gay City News. “I’ve been working for years now to encourage people to run for offi ce.
I’m not willing to go back on that now because I’m a candidate.”
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