Mamdani appoints trans-identified male to lead newly-created LGBTQIA+ affairs office

New York City socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed a transgender-identifying male to lead his new LGTBQ office.

Mamdani created the city’s first-ever Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs through an executive order. The office is intended to increase LGBT outreach at a time when the Trump administration has sought to roll back certain initiatives. The office will primarily serve as a central hub focused on how agencies can better benefit “queer” New Yorkers.

The mayor has tapped Taylor Brown, a transgender-identified male attorney, to serve as the office’s director. Brown currently works in the civil rights bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office. Brown assisted with litigation against Nassau County over its ban on biological men and boys competing in women’s sports.

"New York City is proud of its LGBTQIA+ community and will refuse to deny healthcare, safety or dignity to anyone on the basis of their identity," Mamdani said in a statement. "With Taylor Brown as Director of the new Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, the city's queer community will not only be celebrated, but protected at every turn."

Mamdani announced the decision this week, saying, “This day was a long time coming. It took years of activism from community leaders who recognize how often queer New Yorkers fall through the cracks while attempting to access our city’s social services.”

Brown has previously worked with Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union, including assisting with the lawsuit to allow trans-identifying people to change their birth certificates in West Virginia.

After Mamdani announced the appointment, Brown said, “We want the same things as everyone else, and we deserve the same things as everyone else, and that’s what this administration is about.”