LGBTQ Groups Praise New State Anti-Discrimination Policy

Local community groups and gay rights associations have welcomed the March decision of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services to adopt a policy explicitly prohibiting discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth in
juvenile justice facilities across the state.

“This is certainly a great step forward and one that I hope will make a big difference for LGBTQ youth in our state,” said Pastor Heidi Neumark, executive director of Trinity Place Shelter. The homeless shelter on the Upper West Side provides 10 beds specifically for homeless LGBT youth.

“We commonly find that many of the young people who seek refuge with us have experienced discrimination elsewhere because of their gender identity and anything that can help reduce that has to be a positive thing,” she added.

As well as fighting discrimination and harassment of youths based on sexual identity, the policy addresses the right of youths to wear clothing consistent with their identified gender and to be referred to as male or female based on their own preferred gender identification.

This emphasis on ensuring that LGBT youths are free to be themselves without fear of persecution is gaining the policy real support in the local community.

“What is compelling is how OCFS acknowledges the critical need for safe spaces that are specifically geared towards LGBTQ populations,” said Aries Dela Cruz, vice president of the Columbia Queer Association. “I hope that this change will encourage faith-based social service organizations to make the same acknowledgements and provisions towards the queer populations they most certainly serve.”

Mishi Faruqee, director of the Juvenile Justice Project at the Correctional Association of New York, called the policy as “groundbreaking.”

Along with OCFS Commissioner Gladys Carrión, Faruqee co-chaired the working group set up by the OCFS to look specifically at the problems faced by LGBT youth in state custody.

“We heard many reports from young people who said they had been abused or discriminated against because they were LGBTQ and we really felt that was something that needed to be tackled and sorted out,” Faruqee said. “Commissioner Carrion also felt strongly about this and we were delighted to be able to work so closely with her and a number of other organizations and advocacy groups to try and deal with this distressing situation.”

Edward Borges, director of communications at OCFS, said that he believed one of most important parts of the new policy was that—as well as laying down guidelines for behavior—it placed a strong emphasis on the importance of staff training.

“Education is extremely important when you are implementing a new policy like this,” he said. “You can’t just tell the staff to treat these kids with respect and assume that all the attitudes and problems will disappear. You have to support them and educate them around the specific problems the kids are facing, that’s what makes the real difference.”

Neumark agreed. “There is a real difference between policy and practice, and while the new guidelines are very hopeful, it’s the implementation of them that’s the most important thing,” she said. “If the practice matches the policy then this is certainly a very positive step forward.”

sarah.lockwood@columbiaspectator.com