JAMELL HENDERSON FOR NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 41

1). Why do you want LID’s endorsement?*

LID is the leading LGBTQIA+ Democratic voice in Brooklyn. Your organization has a decades-long record of advancing civil-rights legislation, grassroots organizing, and progressive policy wins. My campaign is built on the same values—authentic leadership, community investment, and government that protects every resident, no matter who they love or how they identify. Partnering with LIDBK will amplify LBGTQIA+  voices in District 41 and help us pass policy that puts people over politics. 

2). If you have previously held office, describe a time while elected that you advocated and acted for the LGBTQIA+ community. If you have not held office, describe a time you have advocated for the LGBTQIA+ community.

I have advocated for the LGBTQIA+ Community during the ongoing Black Lives Matter Movement where I stood up for Black people whose lives are not being treated the same; from safe spaces to civil and human rights. I have also done work as the NYC Regional Board Chair for Citizen Action of NY in fighting alongside fellow advocate groups to ensure the safety of the LGBTQIA community is provided in NYC.

3). Are you accepting campaign contributions from law enforcement or for-profit real estate?

No

4). Has Mayor Eric Adams met the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community? Please include “yes” or “no” in your answer.

No. While there have been symbolic gestures, the administration has not delivered on key asks such as fully funding LGBTQIA+ youth drop-in centers, ending NYPD surveillance of queer night-life spaces, or streamlining gender-affirming-care coverage in NYC Care.

5). Are you committed to continuing and expanding city support for the Summer Youth Employment Program Pride Initiative (SYEP Pride)?

Yes—absolutely. I will push to increase the Pride Initiative’s slots and guarantee wrap-around mental-health services for queer and trans youth.

6). How will you support and empower the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly at this time when LGBTQIA+ rights, and transgender rights in particular, are under attack nationwide?

• Introduce legislation requiring every city-funded shelter, hospital, and youth program to adopt a trans-inclusive nondiscrimination policy.*

• Fund mobile legal clinics that help trans New Yorkers change names and gender markers at no cost.*

• Create a District 41 LGBTQIA+ advisory council so community voices guide budget and land-use decisions.*

• Work with the DOE to implement age-appropriate LGBTQ-inclusive curricula in every district school.*

7). How will you support and empower marginalized Brooklynites?

My platform centers community investment—deeply affordable housing (≤40 % AMI), no-red-tape funding for grassroots orgs, and 24-hour wellness hubs that pair mental-health first responders with violence-interrupter crews. These initiatives uplift Black, Brown, immigrant, queer, disabled, and low-income neighbors together.

8). Nonprofit organizations play a vital role in safeguarding the social safety net for millions of New Yorkers. Nonprofit organizations, including LGBTQIA+ community centers, are more than contractors; they are essential partners in addressing homelessness, hunger, healthcare, education, and more. However, chronic delays in city payments have left these organizations on the brink of collapse, threatening the services our most vulnerable residents rely on every day. Will you commit to prioritizing timely payments to nonprofits, working to break down bureaucratic barriers that prevent timely payments, supporting financial stability for nonprofits, and working to uphold our critical NYC safety net?

Yes. I will: (1) co-sponsor the Nonprofit Prompt Pay Act to impose 30-day payment standards; (2) expand the City’s Indirect Cost Rate Initiative; and (3) push the comptroller to publish monthly agency-by-agency payment dashboards.

9). The city is currently behind the legally mandated timeline to close the jails on Rikers Island by 2027? Are you committed to this deadline and if so, what will you do to ensure the City meets it? If not, what steps do you propose taking to reduce incarceration and uphold the civil rights and human dignity of individuals confined in our City jails, particularly transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary people?

Yes. I will fight to:

• Fully fund borough-based alternatives and Close Rikers capital projects,*

• Triple investment in Cure Violence and supportive-housing slots,*

• Expand supervised release and mental-health diversion,*

• Create an LGBTQIA+ ombudsperson to safeguard TGNCNB people inside jails during the transition.*

10). Do you support the proposed Haven Green development in the Lower East Side, which would create much-needed housing for LGBTQ+ seniors, among others? What other steps will you take to address the affordability crisis and increase housing available to New Yorkers, particularly individuals moving here to escape harmful red-state Policies?

Yes. Haven Green is a model of community-led, permanently affordable, inclusive housing. I will pair that support with a push to: legalize low-rise density near transit, fund HDFC preservation, and guarantee right-to-counsel for all eviction cases citywide.

11). What steps are you prepared to take to combat Trump Administration policies that harm New Yorkers?

• Codify NYC’s sanctuary-city protections in the Administrative Code,*

• Fund a rapid-response legal defense network for asylum seekers and trans migrants,*

• Leverage the city’s purchasing power to bar contracts with vendors that bankroll anti-LGBTQ or anti-immigrant litigation,*

• Use home-rule powers to protect abortion and gender-affirming care providers from out-of-state civil or criminal subpoenas.*

YES OR NO QUESTIONS

Please answer YES or NO to indicate support for, or opposition to, the following city council initiatives:

1). Int. 3093-A: Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to access to gender-affirming care facilities and a cause of action related to interference with gender-affirming care.

Yes

2). Int. 3184-A: Local Law in relation to requiring the chair of the commission on gender equity to develop a plan to support newly arrived migrants 24-years-old and younger and transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and intersex newly arrived migrants.

Yes

3). Int. 3183-A: Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the commissioner of health and mental hygiene to develop a health agenda to promote the health and wellbeing of transgender, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, and intersex New Yorkers.

Yes

4). Int. 3179-A: Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to a public information and outreach campaign regarding legal rights and resources available to Transgender, Gender Non-conforming, and Nonbinary (TGNCNB) individuals.

Yes

5). Int. 3105-Oversight: Ensuring Access to Supports for TGNCNB People in New York City.

Yes

6. Int. 0149-2024: The Sex Worker Protection Act, championed by LGBTQIA+ Caucus Co-Chair Council Member Tiffany Cabán, Council Member Crystal Hudson.

Yes

7. If endorsed, do you commit to using LID’s full logo and full name on all materials and other places where you list endorsees (with the exception of lists of specific organizations (unions, etc) or elected officials)?

Yes

8. Do you commit to using inclusive and gender-neutral language in press releases and other announcements (e.g., “the people of the..” instead of “the men and women of the...”)?

Yes