New York City: Out, Loud, and Proud for Pride Month

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By Mayor Eric Adams 

Community OpEd

Manhattan Voice 

June 28, 2025

NEW YORK - New York is more than just the greatest city in the world. It is a place where people come to be free and to be themselves. The promise of New York City is that no matter where you come from, what you do, or who you love, you belong here. Pride month is an extension of these ideals - welcoming New Yorkers from every background and belief, filling our hearts, our minds, and our streets with celebration.

I know what it feels like to face doubt, exclusion, and rejection. But I also know the power of community and the strength that comes from being seen and accepted for who you are. This June, we reaffirm what we always feel and what we know to be true: we love our LGBTQ+ family - all of them. We want you living in our neighborhoods, attending our schools, running our small businesses, enjoying New York City's cultural scene, keeping our streets safe as police officers, saving lives as health care workers, and taking part in everything else that makes New York City the greatest city in the world.

While threats to LGBTQ+ communities grow across the country, our administration will never back down. Not in the past, not in the present, and not in the future. We will always fight not simply against discrimination, but for the safety of our citizens.

As we commemorate the 56th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, it is important to remember that our streets were the birthplace of a movement that changed the world forever. The first brick thrown at Stonewall rippled hope throughout the five boroughs and across the country, and it taught us that change sometimes doesn't come without a fight, that New York truly is the city of protest and progress. The principles our nation was built on - liberty, justice, and equality - are the principles that this city stands for. And they are meant to be for everyone.

Some politicians talk the talk on LGBTQ+ issues, but I walk the walk, and that's been true from the earliest days of my career. I am true to this fight; not new to it. When homophobia and transphobia ran rampant on our streets, I protected this community as a police officer and stood with the Gay Officers Action League to combat this violence and hatred. Later, in the state Senate, when our colleagues, even some of our Democratic colleagues, backed away from passing same-sex marriage in 2009, I co-sponsored that bill - because your ability to marry should not be dictated by your gender, but by your commitment to the person you love.  

Being an ally to this community does not just send a symbolic message, it sends a substantive one. I was the first mayor to participate in the "Rainbow Run" in March 2023, sprinting in solidarity with the excluded LGBTQ+ community.

In November 2022, I was also the first mayor in city history to visit the Pride Center of Staten Island. And when folks tried to exclude our LGBTQ+ family from critical community traditions, like the Richmond County St. Patrick's Day Parade, we created a new, fully inclusive parade. As mayor of this city, I couldn't let this exclusion stand. This year, we were able to convince the organizers to open up the parade and we all proudly marched together, celebrating Staten Island's robust LGBTQ+ and Irish communities.

Every day, we are working to make New York City the best place to raise a family - all families, including our LGBTQ+ families. Boosting affordable housing across the city to make homes more affordable and accessible - that helps LGBTQ+ New Yorkers. Providing our students with mental health clinics at school - that helps LGBTQ+ New Yorkers. Bringing down crime on our streets and our subways - that helps LGBTQ+ New Yorkers. And expanding afterschool for all and early childhood education for our young ones - that helps LGBTQ+ New Yorkers.

Our administration has been in the corner of the LGBTQ+ community since day one. In June 2023, I signed a historic executive order to protect access to gender-affirming health care in New York City, preventing the use of city resources to detain anyone who is providing or receiving these services in the five boroughs. We launched a new process for New Yorkers to contact the NYPD to re-examine unsolved cold cases involving LGBTQ+ victims, finally achieving justice for these victims and their families. We delivered new investments in The Pride Health Center at NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Judson, offering culturally sensitive and comprehensive gender-affirming health care services to LGBTQ+ patients.

This is just a taste of our work. Every single day, we work to deliver for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers, not just during Pride. Combatting homophobia and transphobia and investing in our LGBTQ+ community goes far beyond just one month. This is just a taste of our incredible work - every day, we stand proudly with LGBTQ+ New Yorkers. But this month, we celebrate you - your strength, your courage, and your love. We are New York City: out, loud, and proud. Happy Pride!