Happy Pride Month, John! 🏳️‍🌈

New York City has long stood as a beacon for LGBTQ+ people across the world. From the early drag bars of the 1890s to the Stonewall uprising and beyond, our city has been at the frontline of the fight for queer liberation.

Five days in, and Pride Month is already off to a roaring start! 

This past weekend, I was honored to attend Queers for Action’s Mayoral Forum.

Later on at the New Queens Pride Parade, I was proud to join LGBTQ+ organizers, grassroots groups, and allies who came together with Defiant Joy to demand respect and dignity for all.

The LGBTQ+ community has thrived for decades in New York City, but our current mayor has allowed Trump and his cronies to come into our homes and our communities to wreak havoc.

They want to deny people access to life-saving gender-affirming care and make it easier to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people. At the same time, hate crimes are rising, particularly against gay and trans people. It’s unacceptable, John.

That’s why — alongside Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas and former City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer — I released a new plan to ensure that New York remains not just a safe haven, but a national model for LGBTQ+ policies and inclusion. It’s the most comprehensive LGBTQ+ plan of any mayoral candidate.

I will use every tool in the City to build a safer, more equitable NYC for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers by:

• Funding LGBTQ+ nonprofits and local suicide hotlines so New Yorkers have access to support.
• Strengthening safeguards against sexual harassment, discrimination, and wage inequality.
• Establishing a City-run authority to protect access to abortion, contraception, and gender-affirming care free from federal interference.
• Doubling down on defending New Yorkers by hiring the attorneys and staff needed to enforce the nation's strongest human rights laws — especially for immigrants and LGBTQ+ New Yorkers — and ensure that the City, unlike private institutions, never capitulates.
• Funding legal services for LGBTQ+ people facing criminalization, especially trans women of color, immigrants, and sex workers.

New York City would not be what it is today without the remarkable achievements and contributions of the LGBTQ+ community, and they deserve to have a Mayor who will fight to make New York City a more inclusive, more accepting city. I'm deeply honored to be endorsed by LGBTQ+ advocacy groups including Lambda Independent Democrats, Jim Owles Club, and Stonewall Democrats.

Just as I’ve done my entire career, I will always stand with LGBTQ+ New Yorkers and do whatever it takes to build a city where everyone can thrive. And be sure to check out my LGBTQ+ agenda.

In solidarity,

Brad