Black Trans Lives Matter!
A transgender activist recently opened the first Black-owned housing complex for the LGBTQIA+ community in N.Y.C., Blavity reports.
Ceyenne Doroshow is the founder of Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society (G.L.I.T.S.), an organization focused on providing holistic care to sex workers and members of the transgender community while also fighting back against gender-based housing discrimination. This past week, Doroshow was finally able to bring a 30-year dream to life, creating a haven and making history as the first Black-owned housing complex for the LGBTQIA+ community in New York City.
“Thirty years of a dream, of doing something like this. But not just doing it, putting us in an area, in a location where we don’t have to run,” Doroshow said at the opening ceremony last week.
G.L.I.T.S. South is located in Woodhaven, Queens and features bespoke interior designs in each apartment, art decor, and furniture donated to the organization by Disney Hotels. Doroshow is also working on transforming the basement into an educational learning center. Her mission is to provide safe space for the community while also assisting young people with securing better futures for themselves.
“My community is being hunted all around the world. If I’m going to have a mission and a statement, my mission has always been to change the lives of my community, to infuse and get young people to rethink what a career is, to invest in ourselves so we can see a better future,” Doroshow said.
The activist and community organizer has been galvanizing people for some time now, demanding justice for Black trans people, bringing awareness to violence against trans women, advocating for LGBTQIA+ youth and community members. This past summer, at a Brooklyn Liberation rally, Doroshow’s message to the community was evident.
“I love all of you. I want you to live in. I want you to breathe and sustain. I want you to stand tall and proud and Black. And live,” she echoed to the 15,000+ in attendance.
Her goal is to eventually expand the G.L.I.T.S. locations, spearheading a trans-owned farmers market or distillery one day. “They’re all just dreams, but the dreams are starting to manifest and happen,” Doroshow said.
Congratulations, Ceyenne and the entire G.L.I.T.S. family! Keep putting action behind those dreams! You are appreciated.
Photo Courtesy of Elliott Jerome Brown Jr./Wall Street Journal Magazine