New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a new Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs on Friday, headed by the first openly transgender person to lead a city agency.
Mamdani signed an executive order establishing the new office and appointing Taylor Brown as its director on Friday afternoon at the Brooklyn Community Pride Center.
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“New York City is proud of its LGBTQIA+ community and will refuse to deny healthcare, safety or dignity to anyone on the basis of their identity,” the Mayor said in a statement. “With Taylor Brown as Director of the new Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, the city’s queer community will not only be celebrated, but protected at every turn.”
Brown, who served as anAssistant AG in the Civil Rights Bureauof the New York State Attorney General, will not only be the first trans person to lead a city office, but also the highest-ranking transgender personever to serve in New York City government.
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In a statement, Brown, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, said she looks forward to working across agencies to ensure that the LGBTQIA+ community is protected “from hostile actors that do not share New York City’s values.”
“New York has given me everything — life-saving health care, education, a home, a career, my chosen family, and a life of purpose,” she said. “I am so proud to serve this city as the inaugural Director of the Mayor’s Office for LGBTQIA+ Affairs. I will work every day to ensure that the doors of New York City remain open to all and to continue New York City’s legacy as a beacon of opportunity and hope for those who have been ignored, discriminated against, and intentionally excluded.”
According to Mamdani’s office, the Officeof LGBTQIA+ Affairswill assist city agencies in developing and supporting liaisons to the LGBTQIA+ community, advance measures to ensure agencies donotengage in anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, develop legal resources to uphold sanctuaryprotectionsfor LGBTQ+ individuals, and provide support for people fleeing LGBTQ+ oppression. It will also “absorb and expand upon” theNYC Unity Project, New York City’s first initiative focused on serving LGBTQ+ residents.
Multiple advocates and city and state officials hailed the new agency and Brown’s appointment.
New York AG James described Brown as “a tireless champion for fairness, dignity, and equal justice under the law.”
“New Yorkers will be well served by her leadership, and I look forward to her continued service ensuring every LGBTQ+ New Yorker is protected and celebrated,” James said in a statement.
“I’mthrilled to see the work of the NYC Unity Project evolve with the launch of the Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs, andI’mgrateful to see the new leadership take the helm and guide this new phase of growth,” NYC Unity director Ronald Porcelli said in a statement.
With Friday’s announcement, Mamdani makes good on his campaign promise to create an Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs. In a video honoring trans activist Sylvia Rivera last October, Mamdani said that under his leadership, the city would “not sit idly by while trans people are attacked” by the Trump administration.
“We will deploy hundreds of lawyers to combat Trump’s hate, make New York City an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and create the office of LGBTQIA+ affairs to allocate millions for youth and adult housing programs as well as gender-affirming care,” the then-candidate promised.
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