Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Brown, a nationally-recognized civil rights attorney, is the first transgender person to lead a New York City office or agency
Office will oversee and implement LGBTQIA+ initiatives, including developing legal resources to uphold sanctuary protections for LGBTQIA+ individuals
NEW YORK – Today, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani signed an executive order establishing the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs and appointed Taylor Brown, currently an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Bureau of the New York State Attorney General, as its director.
With this appointment, Brown becomes the first transgender person to lead a City office or agency and the highest-ranking transgender person in the history of New York City government.
About the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs
The Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs will oversee and coordinate implementation of initiatives across city agencies that serve LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers. These initiatives include:
• Assisting agencies in developing and supporting liaisons to the LGBTQIA+ community
• Advancing measures to ensure agencies do not engage in discrimination based on gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Developing legal resources to ensure the City’s sanctuary protections for LGBTQIA+ individuals are upheld
• Providing support for LGBTQIA+ people and their families fleeing anti-LGBTQIA+ oppression
The Office will absorb and expand upon the NYC Unity Project, which launched in September 2017 as the City’s first initiative focused on delivering and coordinating affirming services for LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers.
About Director Taylor Brown
Taylor Brown serves as an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Bureau at the Office of the New York State Attorney General. Brown’s work includes cases addressing unlawful discrimination against transgender people in public accommodations and housing, disparities in race- and disability-based discipline in public schools, and challenges to federal actions undermining civil rights protections.
Before joining the Attorney General’s Office, Brown spent nearly seven years at Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund and the national office of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ+ & HIV Project. There, Brown led impact litigation across the country advancing constitutional and statutory protections for transgender people, focusing on health care access, education and employment.
Brown is a first-generation graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
1561 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11225
March 13, 2026
Brown, a nationally-recognized civil rights attorney, is the first transgender person to lead a New York City office or agency
Office will oversee and implement LGBTQIA+ initiatives, including developing legal resources to uphold sanctuary protections for LGBTQIA+ individuals
NEW YORK – Today, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani signed an executive order establishing the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs and appointed Taylor Brown, currently an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Bureau of the New York State Attorney General, as its director.
With this appointment, Brown becomes the first transgender person to lead a City office or agency and the highest-ranking transgender person in the history of New York City government.
About the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs
The Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs will oversee and coordinate implementation of initiatives across city agencies that serve LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers. These initiatives include:
• Assisting agencies in developing and supporting liaisons to the LGBTQIA+ community
• Advancing measures to ensure agencies do not engage in discrimination based on gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Developing legal resources to ensure the City’s sanctuary protections for LGBTQIA+ individuals are upheld
• Providing support for LGBTQIA+ people and their families fleeing anti-LGBTQIA+ oppression
The Office will absorb and expand upon the NYC Unity Project, which launched in September 2017 as the City’s first initiative focused on delivering and coordinating affirming services for LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers.
About Director Taylor Brown
Taylor Brown serves as an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Bureau at the Office of the New York State Attorney General. Brown’s work includes cases addressing unlawful discrimination against transgender people in public accommodations and housing, disparities in race- and disability-based discipline in public schools, and challenges to federal actions undermining civil rights protections.
Before joining the Attorney General’s Office, Brown spent nearly seven years at Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund and the national office of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ+ & HIV Project. There, Brown led impact litigation across the country advancing constitutional and statutory protections for transgender people, focusing on health care access, education and employment.
Brown is a first-generation graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
1561 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11225
March 13, 2026
