National Coming Out Day: Resilience & Support within NYC’s LGBTQIA+ Community

By Patrick Hart, Program Director

This Tuesday, October 11th, marks National Coming Out Day. Every year since 1988, this day—during LGBTQIA+ history month—highlights the continued progress the LGBTQIA+ community has made, but also the continued toll that homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of anti-queer bigotry take. Held on the anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, it is an opportunity to celebrate queerness and advocate for political and systems change.

In 2022, we are facing an onslaught of anti-transgender legislation and regulations across the country, as well as efforts to suppress the voices and deny the reality of queer youth. While the state-level efforts of leaders in states like Florida and Virginia are getting the most attention, even in places deemed progressive such as New York, LGBTQIA+ people—particularly transgender people—are disproportionately likely to suffer violence and harassment, end up in the criminal legal system, and suffer abuse there. Across the country, the cost of mass incarceration disproportionately falls on LGBTQIA+ people—especially those who are Black, indigenous, or other people of color. New York was recently reminded of this by the powerful testimony of the sister of Layleen Polanco, a Black trans woman who died in solitary on Rikers Island due to neglect and mismanagement by the Department of Correction.

National Coming Out Day calls on us to acknowledge the persistence of anti-queer bigotry, as well as how that bigotry interacts with racism, sexism, classism, ableism, and other forms of oppression. But it would be wrong to make this day only about suffering and negative outcomes. National Coming Out Day is also a time to highlight the resilience and community-building that have always marked the queer community. While popular perceptions of queer history often begin with the Stonewall Rebellion in 1969, historians like Hugh Ryan point us to the rich history of queer community in NYC since its founding, and how that community has been built and nourished even in hostile spaces like jails and prisons. And that spirit of community-building and solidarity persists today across NYC’s queer community.

Through the Criminal Justice Investment Initiative (CJII), a multi-pronged investment strategy funded by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, ISLG has had the pleasure to work with several organizations working both to combat oppression and to build powerful and resilient spaces of LGBTQIA+ community. These include:

The Door

The Door, a longstanding youth services organization with locations in Soho and the south Bronx, is one of five CJII Youth Opportunity Hubs that launched in 2017. The Hubs provide comprehensive, coordinated services to young people, and an early evaluation showed that Hubs are valued spaces for young people, staff, and community members while also helping build neighborhood safety. While all the Hubs are welcoming to queer youth, The Door in particular has a long history of being a sanctuary for LGBTQIA+ young people. Through on-site activities and groups, participating in the Pride March and other Pride Month activities, and simply generally being welcoming, The Door has been a joyous space for queer youth and a haven for runaway and homeless youth. This is particularly important since queer young people are disproportionately represented among the homeless youth population. The Door runs a drop-in center that offers food, clothing, showers, and laundry to runaway and homeless youth, in addition to counseling that can help connect them with housing and other critical resources. In addition, the welcoming space with plenty of activities of all kinds (such as visual arts, dance, youth organizing) and queer-affirming staff make a huge difference for LGBTQIA+ youth.

Trauma Healing and Resilience Initiative for Transgender Survivors of Violence (THRIV)

This innovative program at Mount Sinai Hospital’s Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery (CTMS) provides transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) survivors of domestic violence access to free trauma-focused and gender-affirming therapy. Many TGNC survivors are unable to access mental health services due to financial barriers, and those who are able often have to choose between a therapist who is trans-affirming or a therapist who is trauma-focused due to the significant lack of training and knowledge the majority of mental health clinicians have in one or both of these areas. THRIV has aimed to fill that gap and provide these necessary services to trans survivors through individual and group therapy, psychiatric services, medical care, and linkage to other services. THRIV also serves as a resource for the broader CTMS and Mount Sinai community, providing training on trans-affirming, trauma-informed care to medical and social work staff to help reduce barriers to medical care that TGNC survivors face. An early evaluation shows that THRIV has succeeded at both improving outcomes for TGNC survivors and increasing clinicians’ knowledge and understanding of TGNC survivors and their needs.

Beyond CJII

Beyond specific providers, ISLG continues to work with initiatives designed to build equity and justice for LGBTQIA+ populations. As noted above, TGNC individuals face disproportionate rates of incarceration and are at greater risk of violence and neglect in prisons and jails, which shows the critical importance of closing the jails on Rikers Island and supporting increased use of diversion and alternatives to incarceration—all key components of ISLG’s work. Additionally, ISLG is working with the City on strategies to ensure that survivors of IPV can receive services and supports, even if they are not engaged with the criminal legal system—this is particularly important for queer survivors of violence who may be looking for support and healing, but may be reluctant to engage with police and prosecutors.

National Coming Out Day is an opportunity to celebrate victories and to reflect on challenges ahead, from a public health infrastructure that struggles to meet queer health needs to a lack of housing and other supports specifically for LGBTQIA+ elders. Through all of these challenges, the community will continue to respond as it always has, with resilience, bravery, and joy.

Photo by Joshua Stitt on Unsplash