Summit highlights mental health of LGBTQ+ New Yorkers in the digital space

The “Digital Spaces, Diverse Faces: Strengthening LGBTQ+ Communities & Mental Health summit brought together electeds, representatives from city agencies and nonprofits to discuss ways of improving mental health in LGBTQ+ communities. 

The event, presented by Equality New York in collaboration with City & State, also focused on how to balance regulation of social media while protecting free speech. 

In keynote remarks at the summit, held Thursday at New York Law School, New York City Council Member Erik Bottcher, underscored the challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community, by calling out Manhattan’s largest neighborhood school board for approving a resolution banning transgender athletes from women’s sports a day earlier.

“We are not in Kansas, we are not in Nassau County. We are in Manhattan, shame on Community Education Council 2, shame on Maud Maron,” he said referring to one of the resolution’s sponsors. The New York Post reported that Maron argued the resolution wasn’t transphobic, but instead would start the conversation on who should be allowed to play in girls sports.

“Shame on her and everyone on that committee who voted for that which passed overwhelmingly last night,” Bottcher, chair of the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual Caucus, told attendees. “After we had people of trans experience and trans students stand up and share their experience and talk about what that resolution meant to them. Shame on them for voting for that.” 

The first panel following his remarks, “Improving Mental Health Across LGBTQ+ Communities” discussed how racism, criminalization and anti-trans attacks have impacted New Yorkers and the strategies that have yielded the most effective responses. The second panel, “Censorship and Social Media Legislation,” focused on the careful balancing act of regulating social media while protecting free speech. 

Legislation highlighted at the summit included HB 7683, a federal bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Brandon Williams, which includes provisions that could protect organizations that discriminate on the basis of sex under the guise of freedom of speech on campus. 

“State legislation is pivotal as it can either uphold or challenge these discriminatory practices, directly impacting the lives and mental well being of LGBTQ+ individuals,” said Erin Brigid, community organizer at Equality New York, who participated on the second panel.

“And it is pivotal for us to advocate for state policies that foster inclusivity and respect for all identities,” Brigid added, “ensuring that every voice is heard and valued in our society.”

Panelists pointed out how youth leverage technology in positive ways to build their communities and called for their voices to be heard about social media use and safety.

“The guise of protecting children has been used to … take a lot of youth autonomy away and not allow young people to be able to use platforms that, if we were their age, we would want to use these things, said panelist Danielle King, senior youth policy counsel at the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “And we're using a lot of that now as adults.” 

“I think that we need to be careful in the guise of trying to protect children and wanting them to have a place that’s safe for them with their mental health,” King added. “They should have a voice and say … on … what it looks like. What will be helpful and beneficial for them. That's often left off the table for the marginalized groups, and for just a lot of young folks in general, as well.” 

Panelists also noted how broad restrictions using first amendment arguments can be harmful to queer and trans communities that see their content flagged and taken down. 

“A lot of the bills are put under that guise that I've talked about before about protecting children,” King told attendees. “We have to protect them by all means, but when you look, they don't know the answers. They don't really know how they're going to protect. A lot of initiatives like broad age verification, don't even know if it's going to work, or how it's going to be implemented.”