By Dennis Richmond Jr.
The acronym LGBTQ+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning+. Members of the LGBTQ+ community live everywhere in the country. New York is one of the states that has many LGBTQ+ neighborhoods. Many folx in the community struggle, though.
I don’t feel discriminated against for my sexuality. One reason is that I’m somewhat masculine presenting. That isn’t the same for everybody. Many trans girls and trans women face cruelty. Amariey Lei, also known as Myara, a young trans woman, was murdered in January of 2022. Myara was only 20 years old. I spoke to social media influencer Cienna Rosalina, 21, a trans woman about this. She was heartbroken.
“Stop trying to teach trans women when to disclose and maneuver,” said Cienna Rosalina. “Teach men how to treat us. As they do any other walking human being.” When Cienna came out of the closet in Yonkers, it was scary for her. My “main concern was not getting accepted.” She soon realized something. “Coming out and transitioning was more about me.” She couldn’t be the only one in Westchester with a coming-out story.
Westchester County, New York, is home to over 1,000,000 people. Yonkers takes the cake in the county with over 211,000 residents. From Yonkers to New Rochelle and from Greenburgh to Mount Vernon, there are young Black folx in the LGBTQ+ community. These young folx are all from different parts of the county and hold different experiences.
Yonkers produced Cienna Rosalina, and Mount Vernon created Sammie “Secret” Reid. Secret’s story is a bit different than Cienna’s. “My coming out experience was pretty smooth. It wasn’t too hard.” Sammie, 25, came out when it wasn’t too popular for Black boys to be gay in high school. “It’s more accepted now,” he said. Many teenage Black LGBTQ+ folx can move a little freer today because of folx like Sammie.
Sammie and people like him were not strangers to adversity in high school. Teenagers who didn’t accept homosexuality would say negative things to Sammie and others. Sometimes, this would lead to a fight. “We wanted people to respect us,” he said. Nowadays, in Westchester, the LGBTQ+ community is massively different. Young gay boys don’t have to worry as much about being bullied today as they did before. Trans girls have more resources today than ever before. Not to mention, there are peer support groups for many LGBTQ+ folx.
Westchester County is not New York City, and as such, might be a bit conservative. Regardless, there are many young Black LGBTQ+ folx across the community. It’s important to acknowledge those around us, no matter how old. Life is about giving people roses while they can still smell them. At Yonkers Rising and YonkersTimes.Com, we want to ensure that Cienna Rosalina and Sammie “Secret” Reid get their roses.
Dennis Richmond, Jr., is an author and journalist focused on the Black, Latinx, and LGBTQIA+ Community. He has covered HBCUs periodically for six years at Yonkers Rising. Richmond lives in Yonkers. Follow him on Twitter @NewYorkStakz.
