City Stands For LGBTQ Freedom

Queer rights advocates and city officials gathered at the New Haven Pride Center Friday to send a resounding message: that no presidential executive order can erase the reality of transgender people — or dim New Haveners’ commitment to protecting queer rights and safety.

The press conference called attention to the fact that as the Trump administration scrubbed LGBTQIA+ resources from some government websites, New Haven’s City Hall did just the opposite.

The city announced a new booklet compiling local resources for LGBTQIA+ community members, including a list of local organizations, a compilation of students’ legal rights in public schools and the steps for updating identification to reflect a new name, among other information. 

The booklet, produced in partnership with the New Haven Pride Center and other community advocates, joins another toolkit released last week dedicated to the resources and rights of immigrants.

It arrives at a time when many queer people are feeling fear and anxiety over whether and how the campaign promises of President Donald Trump will come to fruition — especially promises focused on restricting transgender rights. 

Within hours of taking office on Monday, Trump issued an executive order declaring that the federal government recognize only that ​“women are biologically female, and men are biologically male,” based on their assignment at birth, explicitly rejecting the existence of trans and intersex people. 

The order also prohibited the relatively few cases of trans people in federal prisons with permission to stay in the facilities reflecting their gender identity, along with the availability of gender-affirming healthcare for those prisoners.

Trump additionally rolled back a Joe Biden-era executive order prohibiting discrimination based on sexuality or gender identity, and ordered that all federal employees focused on ​“Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” be fired. 

Both the New Haven Pride Center and LGBTQIA+ crisis hotlines across the country have seen a surge in requests for support this week.

“We are in a fight for our lives, and we must move with urgency,” said Erycka, a poet and co-executive director of the Children of Marsha P. Johnson collective.

She called attention to the work of Black trans leaders in particular, drawing from historical activists like Johnson, who have long fought for rights and dignity in the face of a hostile culture.

“If you’re a neighbor in our LGBTQ community who is watching this, who is reading this, know that we’ve got your back,” said East Rock/Fair Haven Alder Caroline Tanbee Smith.

Professing support for both LGBTQIA+ residents and immigrants in New Haven, Mayor Justin Elicker declared, ​“These values of New Haven are unshakable.”

He pushed back on the text of Trump’s anti-trans executive order, noting, ​“We’re not ​‘socially engineering’ gender. We’re embracing and accepting people for who they are.”

Trump has also pledged to defund schools that recognize the existence of trans people or allow trans children the right to express their identities. He’s also expressed plans to restrict access to gender-affirming medical care, especially for those on federally-funded insurance plans, and to weaken discrimination protections for LGBTQIA+ people.

When asked about Trump’s threats to queer-affirming school districts, New Haven Public Schools Director of Student Services Typhanie Jackson pointed to the school system’s policy of respecting trans students’ pronouns, names and bathroom preferences. ​“We are gonna stand by that policy,” she said.

There may be ​“an effort to cut funding to municipalities” that support LGBTQIA+ residents, added Elicker. ​“It is early for us to say exactly how we’ll respond,” he said, but he expressed optimism about the potential for legal challenges to those efforts.

Elicker was also asked about whether Trump’s election win could be interpreted as a ​“mandate” from the country to pursue anti-LGBTQIA+ policies.

“That’s not a mandate,” Elicker responded firmly, noting that Trump won less than 50 percent of the popular vote. ​“I’m concerned about some of the Democrats out there thinking that our country has changed” to be more anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ+, he said, arguing that there is still broad support for policies protecting those communities. 

The officials and advocates made clear that no one’s gender identity or sexual orientation is up for debate.

“Living unapologetically and being true to yourself isn’t just important,” said Pride Center Executive Director Juancarlos Soto. ​“I believe it is sacred work.”