Mayor Creates Office Of LGBTQIA+ Affairs In NYC

NEW YORK, NY — Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed an executive order creating the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs and

He appointed civil rights attorney Taylor Brown as its first director.

Brown, an assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Bureau at the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, becomes the first transgender person to lead a New York City office or agency.

“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,” Mamdani said.

The new office will oversee and coordinate LGBTQIA+ initiatives across city agencies.

Its responsibilities include helping agencies establish community liaisons, advancing policies that prohibit discrimination based on gender, gender identity or sexual orientation, and developing legal resources to uphold sanctuary protections for LGBTQIA+ individuals.

Some major hospital systems in the City have paused or scaled back gender-affirming care for minors amid federal scrutiny and legal threats.

City officials said the office will absorb and expand the NYC Unity Project, launched in 2017 to coordinate services for LGBTQIA+ residents.