Join SDNYC on Wednesday, October 22 at 8PM at TACT Studio, 900 Broadway, Suite 905 for a panel discussion on PEP & PrEP. Please see below for more information.
Click here to RSVP on Facebook for the latest updates and information.
Hope to see you there!
TODAY (October 10, 2014) is the LAST DAY to register to vote in the November 4th Election
Not sure if you're registered? Click Here To Check Your Voter Registration & Poll Site
Need To Register? See below for in person and mail registration instructions.
In Person Registration for State/Local Primary Election:
Today is the last day to register in person for the November 4th Election.
To register in person visit your local County Board of Elections Office (See below for NYC County Board of Elections Offices) or any state agency participating in the National Voter Registration Act.
Mail Registration for State/Local Primary Election:
Today is the last day to postmark mailed voter registration applications for the November 4th Election.
The NYS Board of Elections must receive your registration application via mail by October 15.
To register by mail, download the voter registration form and mail the completed form to your local County Board of Elections Office (See below for NYC County Board of Elections Offices).
Download Voter Registration Form (English)
Download Voter Registration Form (Spanish)
Board of Elections Offices for NYC:
Bronx County Board of Elections
1780 Grand Concourse-5th Floor, Bronx, NY 10457
Phone: 718-299-9017
Fax: 718-299-2140
Kings County (Brooklyn)
Kings County Board of Elections
345 Adams Street - 4th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Phone: 718-797-8800
Fax: 718-246-5958
New York County (Manhattan)
New York County Board of Elections
200 Varick Street - 10th Floor, New York, NY 10014
Phone: 212-886-2100
Queens County Board of Elections
126-06 Queens Boulevard, Kew Gardens, NY 11415
Phone: 718-730-6730
Fax: 718-459-3384
Richmond County (Staten Island)
Richmond County Board of Elections
1 Edgewater Plaza, Staten Island, NY 10305
Phone: 718-876-0079
SDNYC Statement on the First Audits of the NY Hate Crimes Act
Stonewall Democrats of NYC (SDNYC) commends NYS Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli for issuing the first ever audit of the NY Hate Crimes Act at the request of NYS Senator Brad Hoylman. These audits shine a light on this important issue that directly impacts the safety of the LGBT community by examining the NYC Police Department (NYPD) and the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS)' methods for recording and reporting hate crimes in NYC. SDNYC echoes the Comptroller's call for changes to the NYPD / DCJS' current methods for tracking of hate crimes and for the NYPD to better use the data collected to prevent future hate crimes in NYC. The NYPD has agreed to the audit's recommendations and SDNYC looks forward to reviewing an update from the Department in the near future. Click here for more information about the audits released today.
SDNYC President Eunic Ortiz said, "There are far too many hate crimes in our City each year, especially crimes against members of the LGBT community. The recommendations set forth by Comptroller DiNapoli and Senator Hoylman, along with the NYPD's promise to begin implementing these initial recommendations, is just the first step in combating these heinous crimes. SDNYC applauds the Comptroller and the Senator for their leadership on this issue and looks forward to working with our elected leaders and the NYPD to reduce the number of hate crimes in our City to the only acceptable number: ZERO."
Thank you to Chalkbeat for covering SDNYC's September meeting on LGBT Policies for students, teachers and families in NYC schools! Read the story below or check it out on the Chalkbeat website.
Originally posted on Chalkbeat by Patrick Wall on September 18, 2014
In the span of just a few months this year, the city’s schools became more welcoming places for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, advocates and lawmakers said Wednesday during a discussion hosted by an LGBT political club.
Since February, the city’s education department has issued guidelines to help schools support transgender students, the schools chancellor encouraged educators to discuss LGBT issues with students, and the state incorporated the gay rights movement into its history standards, speakers noted at the talk, which Chancellor Carmen Fariña and two other school officials attended.
But, they said, the city could still do much more to embrace all students.
Transgender students can still be restricted from using certain restrooms or playing competitive sports under the new guidelines. Bullying is still a major issue, yet many school staffers and students get little training on how to prevent it. And it is unclear if the city’s new social studies curriculum will incorporate gay history, they pointed out.
“We need to have a gay pride celebration in every school. We need to have a gay-straight alliance in every school,” said City Councilman Daniel Dromm, a former Queens elementary school teacher who made headlines years ago when he came out as gay. “I’m tired of waiting.”
Dromm, who chairs the council’s education committee, held a hearing on LGBT students in February that Fariña attended. Soon after, she sent principals a memo promoting classroom lessons designed to give students a chance “to gain insight on and sensitivity toward the experience of their LGBT peers.”
On Wednesday, she said she had recently had such a discussion with her eight-year-old grandson, who said he sympathized with a classmate who is “a girl that wishes she was a boy.”
“It’s really, really important that we have these conversations with our kids,” Fariña said. She said that the 200 new school guidance counselors hired this year could help facilitate those discussions.
Rose Christ, vice president of the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City, which hosted the discussion, said the club did not know of any previous chancellor who had addressed “an LGBT organization or spoken at a public LGBT event” focused on schools.
“It’s historic that she was here tonight,” Dromm said about Fariña, who left after making her brief remarks. The officials in charge of school guidance counselors and student safety stayed and participated in the discussion.
The education department released its first-ever transgender student guidelines earlier this year.
They say that schools should allow students to dress in a way that matches their gender identity and should use students’ preferred name and pronoun, except on official records. The guidelines are less clear about which restrooms and locker rooms students may use, or whether they can participate in contact sports, saying that “the safety and comfort of all students” must be considered.
The policies represent a “tremendous step forward,” said panelist Michael Silverman, executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund. But they could still be improved, he added. For instance, a transgender student who identifies as a boy but is not allowed to use the boys’ restroom “no longer feels like just another boy.”
While the state’s recently adopted social-studies standards cover gay history for the first time — meaning that high-school students could be tested on it — it is unclear whether the city’s soon-to-be-released history materials will include lessons on those events. Fariña did not resolve that question when asked Wednesday, saying only that she was open to discussing it further.
Since 2008, the city has required every school to designate an anti-bullying liaison and create an anti-bullying plan. Principals must train staff members on the city’s anti-discrimination policies, which prohibits mistreatment based on gender and sexuality, and students must receive at least one lesson on the discipline code, according to a department spokeswoman.
But Dromm and others noted during the discussion that the city does not require teachers to use its “Respect For All” lesson materials, and schools’ anti-bullying liaisons are the only staffers required to attend two-day trainings. Dromm added that when educators do talk about bullying with students, they sometimes leave LGBT issues out of the discussions.
The city does not record students’ gender identity or sexuality when documenting instances of school bullying or bias, making it difficult for advocates to spot trends, the panelists noted. Elayna Konstan, head of the department’s Office of Safety and Youth Development, said her office is still “exploring that with our lawyers.”
One panelist said the city should not ask students for that information, while others said the data is crucial for holding the city accountable for the safety of LGBT students.
“Our invisibility is our biggest enemy,” Dromm said.
Chalkbeat New York is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.