New York Announces Big Statewide Investments in LGBTQ+ Community

In New York, the Democratic-led government has announced that millions of dollars will be made available to benefit the LGBTQ+ community in the state.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that $33.5 million would be provided to support LGBTQ+ New Yorkers, particularly transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people, Shore News Network, a New Jersey-area news site, reports.

Some projects benefiting from the funding include senior housing, the American LGBTQ+ Museum, and suicide prevention initiatives.

Twenty million dollars will be allocated to LGBTQ-affirming senior housing projects during fiscal year 2024, with $5 million allocated specifically to projects supporting transgender, gender-nonconforming, and nonbinary people. Older LGBTQ+ people in New York face unique challenges in finding affordable housing where they can live as part of a community, and this funding seeks to help them overcome those.

The New York State Office of Mental Health has been awarded a $1 million grant to develop a comprehensive suicide prevention program for transgender, gender-nonconforming, and nonbinary young people in the state.

It was announced that the state had increased funding for that group of New Yorkers by 50 percent to reduce suicide rates among transgender people.

Furthermore, Hochul’s 2024 budget includes an additional $7.5 million for the American LGBTQ+ Museum to secure its permanent location.

Soon, the museum will be housed within an expanded multistory wing currently being constructed at the New York Historical Society. Investing in this project will help support the ongoing expansion of the museum and its opening in 2026, after which the LGBTQ+ Museum will be opened to the public.

This museum, which has already begun hosting digital programs, will be New York City’s first museum dedicated to the history and culture of LGBTQ+ people. It was previously scheduled to open its doors in 2024.