Corey Johnson (c) marches in the Brooklyn Pride Parade on 5th Avenue in Park Slope, Saturday, June 8, 2019. (Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News)
By David Goldiner
Originally published in the New York Daily News on June 29, 2019
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson announced $19 million in funding for LGBT support programs in honor of Pride, including big boosts to help transgender people.
On World Pride weekend in the city, Johnson said the move to nearly double funding for the programs marks a sea change in New York’s approach to the gay community.
“Acceptance is not enough,” Johnson said. “Our local government must fund programs that support the LBGTQ community, particularly transgender people.”
The budget includes $2.3 million for Trans Equity Programs, $3.7 million for LGBT community services and $800,000 for LGBT inclusive curriculum in public schools.
Protecting transgender people against discrimination and attacks is a big priority for the city, Johnson said, especially since they have suffered an uptick in hate crimes.
Council Finance Chair Daniel Dromm, who also chairs the Council’s LGBT Caucus, called the funding increases a tribute to the “spirit of Stonewall,” a reference to the 50th anniversary of the gay rights uprising in Greenwich Village.
“This budget truly delivers for all LGBTQ New Yorkers,” Dromm (D-Queens) said.
Activists heaped praise on the budget, saying the new emphasis on providing resources to programs reflects the city’s place as a global beacon of hope and pride for LGBTQ people.
“Our movement towards equality began in New York City,” said Kelsey Louie of Gay Men’s Health Crisis. “So we must always be a leader in efforts to protect and advance all communities, especially those most impacted by all intersections of oppression.”
The weekend is the culmination of a historic period for New York’s gay community, with the Stonewall anniversary coinciding with the city’s celebration of World Pride week.
Organizers are girding for what they predict will be the largest gay pride parade in history on Sunday, when some 150,000 marchers and 4 million spectators are expected to throng the streets of the West Village. The parade kicks of at noon at 26th Street and Fifth Ave. goes down to 8th St. crosses over Christopher St. and swings by Stonewall. It finishes up at 23rd St. and Seventh Ave.
Around the world, thousands marched Saturday in Singapore to call for a repeal of laws outlawing homosexuality.
With a punishing heat wave gripping France, firefighters sprayed water on thousands of revelers in Paris, some of whom used rainbow-colored fans and umbrellas to counter the heat.
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