An Afro-Latina transgender woman, Yanery Cruz (she/her) is the first-ever Executive Director of New York City Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus. In this role, Yanery leads the Caucus’ policy, budget, and advocacy efforts, helping advance a more coordinated and equitable agenda for LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers.  Previously she served as Director of Advocacy and Programs at the New York Transgender Advocacy Group.

Cruz is a recipient of the Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC’s Defiant Award, speaking to the depth and importance of her vision and leadership.

One of the most prominent figures of the gay rights movement of 1960s and 1970s New York City, Marsha P. Johnson was an important advocate for homeless LGBTQ+ youth, those affected by HIV and AIDS, and gay and transgender rights. After fighting on the front lines of the Stonewall uprising in 1969, Marsha became an activist and co-founder (with Sylvia Rivera) of Street Transvestite Activist Revolutionaries (STAR), a place where young transpeople living on the street could feel safe.

She died in 1992 at the age of 46, under suspicious circumstances, a case that remains unsolved. In 2020, New York State named a waterfront park in Brooklyn after Marsha.

Known for his leading roles in film and television (including “Juno,” “Inception,” “X Men: The Last Stand,” and “The Umbrella Academy”), and for his outspoken activism for LGBTQ+ rights, Elliot Page (he/they) became the first openly trans man to appear on the cover of Time magazine (2021).

His critically acclaimed memoir “Pageboy” is an intense, moving account of self-discovery, and his company, PageBoy Productions, makes films that champion underrepresented voices. Page has become a role model for young people both in and outside of Hollywood.

Sean Coleman is the founder of Destination Tomorrow, a LGBTQ+ center in the Bronx that provides services like job readiness, HIV testing, and emergency housing. In this interview, he describes growing up in Brooklyn with his grandmother and brother. At a young age, he became involved in the ballroom scene, a community which still provides most of his close relationships. Sean also discusses his spiritual identity, the changing landscape of hormone access, erasure of Black trans masculinity, and his start with grassroots organizing for the Bronx trans community in the early 2000s.

As the founder of Destination Tomorrow, Sean Coleman’s work shows us the importance of investing in and strengthening our communities so that we can unite and respond strategically to create positive change.