Trans woman appointed to lead new NYC Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has created the city’s first Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs and appointed civil rights attorney Taylor Brown as its inaugural director, making her the first transgender person ever to head a New York City office or agency.

Mamdani signed the executive order establishing the office at the Brooklyn Community Pride Center in Crown Heights. In announcing Brown’s appointment, he said the new office would ensure that LGBTQ+ New Yorkers are not only recognised, but actively protected in access to healthcare, safety, and basic dignity across the city.

Brown, who has long worked on constitutional and civil rights protections for trans people — with a focus on healthcare access, the rights of incarcerated people, education, and employment — previously served as an assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office. As reported by Advocate, she said she was “proud to serve this city” in a role dedicated to keeping New York open and accessible to those historically excluded or discriminated against.

The Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs has been structured as a coordinating hub within city government, responsible for aligning and overseeing programs and policies affecting LGBTQ+ residents. Its mandate includes enforcing equality guidelines across agencies and working to prevent discrimination on the basis of gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation in city services.

The office will also strengthen New York City’s sanctuary protections for LGBTQ+ individuals, a priority given the ongoing federal attacks on LGBTQ+ rights under President Donald Trump, including the removal of transgender references from the official Stonewall National Monument website in 2025 and the removal of the LGBTQ+ Pride flag from the monument in 2026.

In addition, the new office will absorb and expand the NYC Unity Project, the existing city initiative that coordinates services and support for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers, with the aim of building a more coherent and accessible system of resources across the five boroughs.