FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JULY 1, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 25
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Don’t forget the ‘I’ in LGBTQIA+
BY DANIEL DROMM
I founded Queens Pride 29 years ago to
be a welcoming space for all the borough’s
diverse communities.
Th rough the years, I excitedly watched
as this colorful celebration, with a serious
letters & comments
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political message, grew. It seems every
country is now represented. Th e transgender
presence, always there from the beginning,
is ubiquitous at this point. Many
others of all stripes fl ock to an event that
is grounded in family, friends and neighbors,
not corporations. And, of course, so
many straight allies have come to stand
with us, which always makes me swell
with emotion.
If asked to distill the essence of Pride,
I would say it is about creating a home
for all who do not conform to rigid societal
notions of gender and sexuality. One
group is taking this a step further and challenging
the idea of what “normal” bodies
should look like: the intersex community.
“Intersex” is an umbrella term for differences
in sex traits or reproductive anatomy.
Intersex people are born with these
diff erences or develop them in childhood.
Th ere are many possible diff erences
in genitalia, hormones, internal anatomy
or chromosomes, compared to the
usual two ways that human bodies develop.
According to the United Nations, up
to 1.7 percent of the world population are
born with intersex traits.
Medical professionals oft en encourage
parents and guardians to agree to procedures
to treat intersex traits and variations
in sex characteristics, even when
such procedures are medically unnecessary.
Despite the prevalence of these violations
of basic human rights, there is no
federal or state law prohibiting such procedures.
Much of the work of the intersex community
is aimed at ensuring decisions
around intersex bodies are based on
informed consent and self determination,
principals that should be very familiar to
LGBTQIA+ and other liberation movements.
New York City has been leading the way
in seeking justice for the intersex community.
In April of this year, the NYC
Council passed my legislation requiring
the Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene to conduct a public information
and outreach campaign regarding medically
unnecessary treatments on individuals
born with intersex traits or variations
in sex characteristics.
Most notably, the input of members of
the intersex community will play a key
role in the development of this program.
With proper information, New Yorkers
will now be more likely to understand the
adverse eff ects of coercive “normalizing”
medical interventions.
Prompted by this legislation and
the work of advocates, NYC Health +
Hospitals has decided to end the practice
of medically unnecessary surgeries on
children with intersex traits. Sadly, other
prominent institutions, including Weill
Cornell, still prey upon the unfounded
fears of parents and guardians in pursuit
of lucrative yet unethical practices.
I applaud this tremendous step forward
and hope that it will encourage private
hospitals in the city to follow suit.
We cannot as an LGBTQIA+ movement,
or as a society for that matter, say
that we respect the right to bodily integrity
and the foundational concept of consent
yet ignore the injustices perpetrated
by much of the medical establishment
against our intersex siblings. So let’s celebrate
the “I” this Pride Month and commit
to ending this particularly insidious
form of violence!
To learn more about the intersex community
and fi nd out how you can help,
visit interactadvocates.org.
Daniel Dromm is the city councilman
for District 25 in Queens, which covers
Elmhurst and Jackson Heights.
A DIFFERENT OPINION
ON EARMARKING
Commenter Larry Penner’s June 24 letter to the editor
implies that the $17 million that Congresswoman Grace
Meng has placed in the House infrastructure bill for elevators
and platform extensions at the Forest Hills LIRR station
is not needed. He says the LIRR should fund that project
from the existing MTA Capital Program as if the program
is overfunded.
Congresswoman Meng’s congressionally directed spending
(aka earmark) is additive to the MTA’s Capital Plan
and, if included in the fi nal legislation signed by the president,
will represent extra funding to bring our transportation
assets into a state of good repair.
Sometimes it does not hurt to let elected offi cials decide
which capital projects to fund in their districts rather than
let federal offi cials award discretionary grants. We elected
Congresswoman Meng to represent our interests in
Washington. As long as these earmarks are fully disclosed
and transparent, bringing back earmarks to the surface
transportation bill is not a bad idea.
Her other earmark will bring electric car charging stations
to municipal parking garages in Queens.
Steve Strauss, Forest Hills
LIONS CLUB CONDEMNS ANTI
ASIAN HATE CRIMES
Th e Little Neck Douglaston Lions Club, founded in 1956,
wishes to publicly express our outrage with the recent wave
of hate crimes against Asian people in New York City.
We recognize our large local Asian community for its
many contributions to the social and economic fabric of
Little Neck/Douglaston. We stand in support of them at
this diffi cult time.
Th e Little Neck Douglaston Lions Club is part of the
Lions Club International, numbering 1.4 million members
in over 200 diff erent countries or regions worldwide.
Th e Lions’ motto is “We serve,” and we conduct humanitarian
work with people across religious and racial/ethnic
groups.
Bill Perry (outreach chair), John F. Duane (president)
/interactadvocates.org
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