Transgender activist and community organizer, Ceyanne Doroshow, was finally able to see through her dream of building a safe haven for the LGTBQ+ community in New York.
On Friday, GLITS South in Woodhaven, Queens, held its grand opening as the first housing complex in NYC owned by the Black trans community, according to CBS New York.
G.L.I.T.S., short for Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society, is an organization founded by Doroshow to provide holistic care to sex workers and members of the transgender community. The organization also works to help those who face housing discrimination due to their gender identity.
During the ceremony on Friday, Doroshow expressed her gratification in finally building the home, saying, “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.”
According to Baller Alert, the complex’s basement area will be transformed into an educational and learning center, an element of development Doroshow said she values greatly.
“This was created out of love,” she said. “Each apartment will have and be — created, and painted and styled — by a designer, an interior designer. The apartments are painted by volunteers. The art and everything has been donated. The furniture was donated from Disney hotels. This is an act of love.”
Doroshow said that her mission to help young people secure better futures is one that must continue as long as transgender people are being ostracized around the world.
“My community is being hunted all around the world,” she said. “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.”
On June 14, Doroshow spoke at Brooklyn Liberation, a widely-attended rally to demand justice for Black trans people, GQ reported. The event was held to bring awareness to the violence against trans women, including Riah Milton and Dominique “Rem'mie” Fells, who were killed days prior in Ohio and Pennsylvania, respectively.
During the rally, Doroshow galvanized the crowd of nearly 15,000 with words of affirmation and love for the Black trans community.
“I love all of you. I want you to live. I want you to breathe and sustain. I want you to stand tall and proud and Black. And Live,” she said.
Eventually, Doroshow said she would like to invest in farmland so that the trans community has even more opportunities to be fruitful and attain their dreams.
“I've been considering buying property upstate so I can start a farm. I would love to see a trans-owned farmers market, a distillery run by trans girls. They're all just dreams, but the dreams are starting to manifest and happen,” she said.
