New Designs for Marsha P. Johnson State Park

After widespread communal backlash, state park honchos are overhauling their designs for Williamsburg’s Marsha P. Johnson State Park and halting their colorful tribute to the greenspace... Show more

s LGBTQ namesake. Meanwhile, almost four basketball courts’ worth of greenery are being added to the waterfront lawn on Kent Avenue. “We’ve had really great conversations and just really appreciate everybody’s passion for joining in the project and this is your park,” State Parks regional director for New York City, Leslie Wright, told Community Board 1’s Parks and Waterfront Committee during a virtual meeting May 5. The new plans for the park between N. Seventh and N. Ninth streets follows widespread outcry earlier this year by locals and Johnson’s family against the agency’s original plan, which included a large colorful mural of the activist splashed on one of the two signature concrete slabs. Residents and relatives at the time said the Albany agency was steamrolling its plans in spite of local opposition, with some Brooklynites likening the scheme to little more than a vanity project for Governor Andrew Cuomo. A bird’s-eye view of the proposed park design.Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners The agency briefly halted construction before launching a series of nine in-person and virtual workshops starting at the end of March through May 3, along with an online survey to gather feedback on how to better the meadow’s look. The new Marsha P. Johnson State Park proposal by Manhattan landscape architects Starr Whitehouse swaps out the large painting for a series of commemorative plaques along ...

Biden Administration to Enforce LGBTQ Healthcare Protections

In a departure from the Trump administration, President Joe Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will recognize healthcare protections for LGBTQ people. HHS will interp... Show more

Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act — which bans discrimination in healthcare settings — to include sexual orientation and gender identity within the definition of sex discrimination, the agency announced on May 10. The Trump administration had finalized a rule last year aimed at scrapping the Obama-era provision of the Affordable Care Act that included gender identity under the definition of sex discrimination. In the announcement, the Biden administration cited last June’s Bostock v. Clayton County Supreme Court ruling, which stipulated that LGBTQ workers are covered under the definition of sex Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. “The Supreme Court has made clear that people have a right not to be discriminated against on the basis of sex and receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a written statement. “That’s why today HHS announced it will act on related reports of discrimination.” Becerra added, “Fear of discrimination can lead individuals to forgo care, which can have serious negative health consequences. It is the position of the Department of Health and Human Services that everyone — including LGBTQ people — should be able to access health care, free from discrimination or interference, period.” HHS, which welcomed out trans Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine earlier this year, is the l...

Reclaim Pride Announces Route for Third Annual Queer Liberation M...

The Reclaim Pride Coalition’s third annual Queer Liberation March on June 27 will kick off at Bryant Park and conclude with a rally at Washington Square Park, organizers announced on Ma... Show more

0. The annual march — which does not allow police, politicians, or corporate floats — will begin at 3 p.m., though marchers are encouraged to gather at 2:30 p.m. at Sixth Avenue and West 41st Street. Marchers will step off there and head west on West 41st Street to Seventh Avenue before marching south to Sheridan Square and the Stonewall Inn, according to organizers. Marchers will then head east on West Fourth Street to Washington Square Park. The rally will feature speakers and performers. The march and rally will be live-streamed. Organizers say the broadcast will include pre-recorded clips stemming from Reclaim Pride’s panel discussions with the Bureau of General Services – Queer Division. It is the third straight year of a march that formed in response to the corporate and police presence at Heritage of Pride’s (HOP) annual march. Because of the pandemic, HOP did not have an in-person march last year, but tens of thousands of people participated in Reclaim Pride’s Queer Liberation March for Black Lives and Against Police Brutality. This year, HOP’s march will have “to-be-determined in-person elements.” The banner that led the Reclaim Pride Coalition’s march last year.Donna Aceto Last year’s Queer Liberation March started earlier in the afternoon at Foley Square and proceeded to Washington Square Park, where marchers were pepper sprayed by police officers in a chaotic scene. “I see the Queer Liberati...

Lambda Independent Democrats Pull Stringer Endorsement, Back Mora...

The Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn (LID) pulled their endorsement of mayoral candidate Scott Stringer on May 6 and backed Dianne Morales, an Afro-Latinx former non-profit exec... Show more

ve who has received two LGBTQ club endorsements in a matter of days. “At LID, we take sexual assault very seriously,” the club wrote in a statement on Twitter. “Too many members of the LGBTQ [community] have suffered long and painfully, often in silence. Thank you to all the members who participated in what was, for many, a very difficult but very civil and thoughtful discussion.” The endorsement, which came just days after Morales landed the support of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, followed an emergency meeting held on May 6 in response to sexual misconduct allegations facing Stringer, who had narrowly edged Morales in the club’s initial endorsement meeting earlier this year. Last month, Jean Kim, a former colleague who served on Stringer’s campaign for Public Advocate in 2001, accused him of groping her and pursuing a sexual relationship — claims that Stringer has denied. During the club’s May 6 meeting, several LID members revealed their experiences of sexual assault. “We had more members who are survivors of this than I would have thought,” Jared Arader, the club’s president, told Gay City News in a phone interview. “The club made the right decision based on where so many of the members are on this issue and what their experiences are.” Just one day before LID’s meeting, the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City upheld their endorsement of Stringer, prompting several members to quit, i...

NYC Unity Project Leads LGBTQ Town Hall on COVID-19 Vaccine

The New York City Unity Project, a city-based LGBTQ youth workforce program, led a virtual LGBTQ town hall to discuss broadening access to the COVID-19 vaccine. During the hour-long Zoo... Show more

eeting on April 30, health experts at the Department of Health and New York Health and Hospitals broached everything from COVID-19 myths to attendees’ fears about facing discrimination at vaccine sites. As the Unity Project resumes operations after halting the program due to the pandemic, public health experts underscored the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine for the LGBTQ community. “With all the folks vaccinated so far in the country and New York City, we are helping the spread to go down and preventing hospitalizations,” Julian L. Watkins, a senior clinical advisor at the Department of Health, said during the virtual meeting. Additionally, experts stressed that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe for people using gender-affirming hormones, individuals living with HIV/AIDS, including people taking PrEP, a daily pill to combat HIV or PEP, which can prevent HIV if a person is exposed to it. Some of the event’s panelists included Health and Hospital’s Acting Regional Director, Justin List and Priya Nair, the associate director of gender equity, Chelsea Cipriano, the executive director of intergovernmental affairs at the Department of Health, Ashe McGovern, the senior policy adviser for the Unity Project, and L. Tantay, the acting director of Race to Justice at the Department of Health. In 2018, the city invested $9.5 million in the Unity Project, a program providing jobs and educational opportunities to h...

String of Robberies Targeting Men on Grindr in Atlanta

The Atlanta Police Department issued a warning on May 5 after a spate of armed robberies targeting LGBTQ men. In a press conference, authorities said suspects are luring victims in thro... Show more

Grindr, taking them to a remote location, and then pulling out a gun to rob them after the date. From February to May, eight LGBTQ men have been attacked and stripped of belongings ranging from keys to wallets and cars. Although the department has not released images of the attackers, police described one of the individuals connected to the case as someone in their late teens and early twenties. The events leading up to the attack appear as a regular date. “It’s a normal conversation with the person, typically dating things,” Atlanta Police Department Sergeant Rodney Jones said during the press conference. “They are asking about their life; they are asking about anything to get to know someone.” Police say there are some steps people can take to avoid the perpetrators. “Meet at a grocery store or a public place before you reconvene somewhere more intimate,”  Eric King, the department’s LGBTQ liaison, said in a press conference. “Listen to your inner voice. If you are trying to FaceTime someone, or get an address and [they are] kinda hesitant and give you the location of a cemetery or someplace you don’t know, take that as a sign.” He added, “We’ve all been catfished. It’s not something that is a new area, but we don’t want people to continually be victimized by a person or group of individuals.” Atlanta Police Department Major D’Andrea Price echoed calls to apprehend the suspects and urged LGBTQ people...