The LGBTQ community of the Big Apple closed ranks in defense of the transgender and Latino candidate Elisa Crespo, who seeks to represent the Bronx on the City Council, this after a New York newspaper caused controversy by publishing a tabloid article.
The piece focused on the young politician’s past as a sex worker, but activists say the newspaper used derogatory language to describe Crespo, who could become the city’s first transgender councilor for District 15. In the The article describes her as an “ex-prostitute” who “was arrested in a police operation” more than a decade ago.
While the article was billed as “revealing,” Crespo has spoken openly and publicly about his experience, even offering an interview about it on Gay City News earlier this year.
The piece on Crespo unleashed an overwhelming wave of support from well-known political figures and activists in the LGBTQ community, who highlighted the police persecution, discrimination and marginalization that plague the transgender community, in particular Hispanic and black women.
Crespo’s nomination coincides with a new generation of LGBTQ community members who have achieved historic electoral victories, be it in the City Council and the state Legislature or even in spheres like Congress.
“It is clear that someone is trying to smear my campaign and make it on me when the focus really should be on the very real problems that people in my district face every day,” Crespo told Gay City News in a written statement on November 30.
“We should talk about barriers to employment for historically marginalized communities, we should talk about housing as a human right, we should talk about jobs and justice. If anyone thought this would deter me, they obviously didn’t pay attention to my campaign. I am proud of the work we have been able to do with very little institutional support, ”she added.
Congressman-elect Ritchie Torres was one of the well-known political figures who spoke out in support of Crespo, who hopes to take his seat in District 15 when he leaves City Council and heads to Capitol Hill in Washington in January. A special election is scheduled for early next year.
“Across the country, LGBTQ candidates have been under siege for who we are,” Torres said in a tweet. “I am speaking from firsthand experience: Bronx voters will not be swayed by calls for bigotry. Both @nypost and those behind the piece should be ashamed of themselves. One piece of advice: transphobia is not only bad morals. It’s bad policy, “he added.
Other LGBTQ members of the City Council, such as Carlos Menchaca of Brooklyn and Daniel Dromm of Queens, also endorsed Crespo.
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