Although attacks on LGBTQ+ young people, especially trans children, persist across the nation, some hope materialized today for New York City’s homeless LGBTQ+ population.
On Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office and the citywide LGBTQ+ programming initiative NYC Unity Project announced a partnership with national LGBTQ+ homeless youth service provider the Ali Forney Center. Called NYC Unity Works, the initiative will be the country’s “largest and most comprehensive workforce development program ever created for LGBTQI communities and will specifically focus on supporting homeless and runaway LGBTQI youth,” according to a press release.
The program — which launches July 1 — will work with clients for up to two years, with one additional follow-up year. This includes “two years of intensive direct services that include paid internships,” per Tuesday’s statement.
According to the New York Times, the initial program will “connect 90 people between 16 and 24 years old with jobs or paid internships at businesses committed to fostering inclusive work environments.” Participants will be able to access a robust array of services, with staff designated for professional development, program staff for the provision of needs such as food and clothing, and mental health support staff.
Lastly, the program will also provide participants with the option to enroll in advanced training certification programs in areas such as media, the arts, human and social services, along with “more traditional pathways.”
Not only is Unity Works a landmark for New York City, the program is the first of its kind nationwide. Ashe McGovern, executive director of the NYC Unity Project and senior LGBTQ policy advisor in the mayor’s office, referred to the project’s creation as “historic.”
“LGBTQI homeless young people, who are mostly young people of color, have been marginalized and rejected both interpersonally and institutionally for too long and this past year has only exacerbated those experiences,” said McGovern in a press release. “We are eager to share lessons as we learn them with our colleagues nationwide and are hopeful that this is only the beginning of large-scale government investments in human-centered LGBTQI anti-poverty and economic justice programming. It’s what our communities desperately need and deserve.”
The NYC Unity Project was founded by the city’s first lady, Chirlane McCray, in 2017 to better connect LGBTQ+ youth with city services. Notably, McCray is a former member of the Black lesbian feminist organization Combahee River Collective, meaning that her advocacy for LGBTQ+ people spans decades. (She has personally rejected labels when defining her own identity, telling Broadly in 2017, “I am just living my life.”)
In a press release, McCray stated that the project “demonstrates the deep commitment of local government to support and empower LGBTQI young people, and the power of partnership.”
While this commitment is admirable, advocates and elected officials want to ensure that the program remains in place for years to come, with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams saying that progressives have been calling for the program’s inclusion in the city’s budget for a year.
“I hope we can go further to ensure that these services will provide stability for youth in need by ensuring the program itself is secure,” said Williams in a press release. “The NYC Unity Project should be codified into city law to provide these consistent and critical services to LGBTQI youth for years to come.”
Unity Works was threatened last summer when it was put on pause due to coronavirus budget shortages, according to the Times. This was despite the fact that the pandemic has disproportionately affected LGBTQ+ people, both in terms of infection rates and in terms of economic prospects.
The city ultimately allocated $2.6 million to the program for the next five years.
Although New York City is widely considered a progressive LGBTQ+ haven, certain factions of the city’s queer and trans population remain underserved by the municipal government. It took until this year, for example, for the state to repeal its “walking while trans” law, which allowed police to apprehend anyone who could be suspected of doing sex work. Advocacy groups claimed trans women were disproportionately targeted and arrested under the 45-year-old statute.
Additionally, an estimated 40% of homeless youth in New York identify as LGBTQ+, according to the Ali Forney Center.
Although the pandemic may have shined a light on the widespread social injustices that remain a fixture of contemporary American society, programs like Unity Works hopefully represent a transformative future.
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