Bryan Ellicott-Cook
1:13:50
Good afternoon, Chair Lewis, members of the committee.
1:13:53
My name is Brian Ellicott Cook.
1:13:54
My pronouns are they and he, and I'm the director of government relations at SAGE, The nation's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ plus elders.
1:14:04
Especially those who are TGNB, people who served, and people living with HIV.
1:14:09
SAGE fully supports all of the agenda items before the committee today.
1:14:13
As those measures are essential to ensuring dignity, safety, and the well-being of trans women, trans men, and non binary individuals.
1:14:21
Across the country, an alarming push to erase our existence from public from the public is here.
1:14:27
There are respective laws, rollbacks on our rights, and denials to basic health care, even the leasing of how we have the ability to travel and live our lives.
1:14:35
Sage fully supports the ask from the Trans Equity Fund to raise to be raised to $10,000,000 prioritizing trans led and trans serving organizations.
1:14:46
We support resolution zero seven seven one which calls on the governor to sign s nine two nine and a two one four one, protecting personal information to not just to a privacy issue, it is now an issue of survival.
1:15:00
Beyond this specific policy measures, I wanna urge the committee to consider renaming itself to better reflect the t g m b community it serves.
1:15:08
Language matters, and a more inclusive name would send a powerful message that all gender diverse individuals, especially those most marginalized, that we are seen, valued, and protected under the scope of this committee's work.
1:15:20
At a time when our committee faces escalating threats from hostile policies, visibility and inclusion in the in the institutions meant to protect us is more critical than ever.
1:15:29
And Sage remains committed to working alongside this committee, the city council, and all of our advocates to advance policies that uplift and safeguard t g m b older adults and the next generation of t g m b new yorkers.
