Councilmembers Chi Ossé of Brooklyn (left) and Justin Sanchez of the Bronx (proper) are the brand new co-chairs of the Metropolis Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus.
Donna Aceto
Councilmembers Chi Ossé of Brooklyn and Justin Sanchez of the Bronx have been elected co-chairs of the Metropolis Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus, the Metropolis Council introduced on Feb. 6.
The management change within the LGBTQIA+ Caucus comes simply days after co-chair Erik Bottcher of Manhattan left the Metropolis Council to affix the New York State Senate. The remainder of the caucus consists of former co-chairs Crystal Hudson of Brooklyn and Tiffany Cabán of Queens, together with Lynn Schulman of Queens and David Carr of Staten Island.
Ossé, who represents District 36, was first elected in 2021, whereas Sanchez simply joined the Metropolis Council in January following his election victory final 12 months within the South Bronx’s District 17 — first in a aggressive main after which within the basic election.
“I’m honored to serve alongside my colleagues as co-chair of the LGBTQIA+ Caucus,” Ossé mentioned, including that the caucus’ “responsibility is to protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers, invest in the services they rely on, and ensure young queer people in this city can grow up safe, supported, and affirmed.”
“We owe that to the generations who came before us and to the generations coming next,” Ossé added.
Councilmember Chi Ossé, second from left, and Erik Bottcher (second from proper) carry fellow metropolis lawmaker Crystal Hudson at Brooklyn Pleasure in 2024. Bottcher and Hudson beforehand served as co-chairs of the LGBTQIA+ Caucus. Bottcher is now within the State Senate.
Ossé has handed a number of LGBTQ-related payments as a metropolis lawmaker, together with two items of laws he carried final 12 months: one requiring the Mayor’s Workplace of Immigrant Affairs to help newly arrived TGNCNBI migrants, and one other requiring town well being commissioner to deal with well being inequities impacting TGNCNBI people.
Each co-chairs are emphasizing the position of native authorities at a time when the Trump administration and the GOP management the White Home and each homes of Congress. Sanchez mentioned the group “is on the front lines of hate and division handed down to us from the Trump administration,” whereas Ossé described native authorities as “one of our strongest lines of defense” when “the LGBTQIA+ community is under attack by those wielding the highest levers of power.”
“I was approached by my colleagues upon winning an election about the possibility to serve in this role, and after much discussion with them and with many leaders in the queer community at large, folks encouraged me to step up,” Sanchez mentioned, including that he was “excited to take on” the chance.
Sanchez, for his half, is simply coming into the Metropolis Council — however he’s not new to management roles within the LGBTQ political scene. He beforehand served because the president of the Stonewall Democratic Membership of New York Metropolis, which is a citywide LGBTQ political membership, and he chaired the LGBTQ+ Caucus of the Younger Democrats of America. Sanchez is the primary Bronx councilmember to serve within the LGBTQIA+ Caucus since Ritchie Torres, who left the Metropolis Council on the finish of 2020 to affix the Home of Representatives.
Reflecting on his journey from serving as president of Stonewall Democrats to main the Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus, Sanchez mentioned it exhibits that queer political golf equipment can function a coaching floor for future political leaders.
Notably, Sanchez identified that the LGBTQIA+ Caucus would lastly have a member from each borough if Metropolis Council candidate Carl Wilson emerges victorious within the race to succeed Bottcher in District 3.
“I think it’s super exciting to show diversity of this community through all five boroughs,” Sanchez defined.
On X, Ossé shared a graphic that includes a photograph of the brand new co-chairs in a put up saying the caucus’ new management.
“We’re honored to lead the caucus at a moment when local government must be the first line of defense for LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers,” Ossé wrote within the put up.
