The New York City Police Department confirmed Monday that it is investigating a string of robberies and assaults that may be connected to the deaths of two gay men earlier this year shortly after they left gay bars in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood.
In an emailed statement, Julian Phillips, a spokesperson for the NYPD’s Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information, confirmed that the deaths of Julio Ramirez and John Umberger are being investigated among “several incidents where individuals have been victims of either robberies or assault.” No arrests have been made in Umberger’s death, which remains under NYPD investigation, according to a department official.
In April, Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker, was found dead in the back of a taxi an hour after being seen leaving the Ritz Bar and Lounge with three unidentified men. His family previously told NBC News that approximately $20,000 had been drained from his bank accounts and that they believed he was drugged.
About a month later, Umberger, a 33-year-old political consultant, was found dead after he and two unidentified men left another popular Hell’s Kitchen gay bar, the Q. The unidentified men transferred about $20,000 out of Umberger’s bank accounts and maxed out his credit cards, according to Umberger’s mother, Linda Clary, who also believes her son was drugged.
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The NYPD spokesperson said the city’s medical examiner is still determining the official causes of deaths for Ramirez and Umberger and added that some, though not all, of the victims in their investigation are believed to be part of the LGBTQ community.
Over the weekend, New York City Council member Erik Bottcher, who represents a swath of Manhattan’s West Side that includes Hell’s Kitchen, released a statement on Instagram saying that his office has been in contact with the NYPD and the New York County District Attorney’s Office regarding the investigation.
“The monsters responsible for these crimes need to be apprehended and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he wrote, adding that “significant resources” are being dedicated to the case.
A representative for Bottcher’s office did not immediately provide a comment. A representative for the New York County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
A bipartisan group of senators released an updated version of a bill Monday to codify federal protections for same-sex marriages that they say they feel confident can get enough Republican support to pass in the Senate.
The leader of the effort, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., fellow Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Republican Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina were working on an amendment to the bill to entice more Republican votes to overcome a filibuster.
The senators said in a statement Monday that they are “confident that this amendment has helped earn the broad, bipartisan support needed to pass our commonsense legislation into law.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., promised Monday to hold a vote this week on the bill, which the group said has the 10 GOP votes needed to pass, during the lame-duck session after the midterm elections and before the start of the new Congress in January.
A vote was delayed before the midterms to give senators more time to review the five-page amendment after some Republicans suggested the vote tally would be higher after Election Day.
A version of the legislation cleared the House in July, with 47 Republicans joining all Democrats in voting yes.
If you’ve never had a lawmaker attempt to label you as a child abuser for providing gender-affirming care, threaten to incarcerate you and send your kids to one of Texas’ notoriously dangerous foster homes, that makes one of us.
And that’s why one humid June morning, after having squeezed the last of our things into our car — a stack of comic books, a dog who hates road trips and a Nintendo Switch — we fled our Houston home seeking safety for our transgender son, Noah, in the mountains of Colorado.
As time ticked down, we lived in fear of knocks on the door and calls from unknown numbers that could have been CPS investigators.
Our story will be told in a new NBC Out short-form doc, “Dear Noah: Pages from a Family Diary,” premiering at the Meet the Press Film Festival at DOC NYC on Tuesday.
Audiences will see how the battle in the Texas Legislature over gender-affirming care for trans children is far from a mere partisan philosophical argument or campaign talking point for me. We are a family with a trans kid, and this heated public debate about the very existence of my innocent child has wreaked a level of fear and uncertainty in our lives that we could never have imagined.
For many, the political and media attention on the transgender community might feel new and perhaps surprising, almost as if the existence of trans people and the best-practice medical care that supports them has come from nowhere. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.
My family’s connection to the trans community has been anything but out of nowhere, as our 16-year-old son (15 at the time of filming) has spent the past 11 years of his young life actively coming to terms with his true gender identity. From kindergarten, our sweet Noah felt out of place in his own body, confused by how starkly different the world viewed and treated him compared to who he knew himself to be. At this young age, he battled bouts of seemingly inexplicable depression and anxiety as he privately grappled with these pressing questions of his identity while trying to navigate elementary school life.
Watch “Dear Noah: Pages from a Family Diary” Friday at 10:30 p.m. ET on NBC News NOW and Peacock.
At the age of 12, Noah finally found the language to articulate his gender dysphoria and discovered incredible examples of healthy and happy trans people modeling the fully realized and genuine life he craved. When Noah finally came out to us as transgender, our lives changed in marvelous ways; he simply glowed. He spoke more hopefully of the future than ever before. The puzzle pieces began to click satisfyingly into place for us.
It was incredibly important that we as parents moved ahead thoughtfully and deliberately. We leaped into research papers, books, online communities and articles, trying to educate ourselves to support him to the fullest. Over the next couple of years, we assembled a trusted team of medical professionals to support Noah’s mental and physical wellness. We watched in awe as he continued to blossom.
And then 2021 happened.
That’s the year a flood of anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced in the Texas Legislature — the majority of which directly targeted trans kids and their families. These bills were as varied as prohibiting trans kids from playing interscholastic sports with their friends (one of which, unfortunately, was passed) to criminalizing the evidence-based, age-appropriate medical care that literally saved my son’s life.
During that session and the three brutal special sessions that followed, Noah and I made numerous trips to the Texas State Capitol to protest these transphobic bills and to walk the halls to meet with legislators. For the first time in my life, I testified in front of a state House committee in October 2021.
Sitting in my car afterward, I felt beaten down by the inattention of the Republican members in attendance — and bewildered by the transphobia of the small group of supporters of these harmful bills who did seem to capture their interest. It was clear to me then that our family needed a Plan B to get out of the state to ensure our son’s safety. A just-in-case place to run to, a soft place to land. The far-right rhetoric was already so skewed and vicious, and the potential for violence felt too close to a child who had already survived so much. Little did I know that less than a year later that car would be packed and headed to the mountains.
This year dealt Texas trans families a double blow when state Attorney General Ken Paxton delivered a nonbinding legal opinionthat gender-affirming care for children was child abuse — followed by a directive from Gov. Greg Abbott that families just like ours should be investigated by Child Protective Services for supporting our kids. Loving families of trans kids we knew were under investigation for simply supporting their children, even though no law required the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services to conduct such investigations.
There’s a tremendous amount of guilt in leaving a community you love in turmoil; many families are at this very moment grappling with this decision of a potential move, while others simply can’t or won’t pick up their lives and leave.
These threats affected Noah’s grades and wholly altered his relationships with teachers and school counselors. He began to fear that these mandatory reporters would feel compelled to report our family to CPS despite their previous close relationships. The bouts of depression and self-harm intensified, and his glow darkened and was replaced by those old feelings of hopelessness and loneliness.
When Texas Children’s Hospital announced that it was pausing gender-affirming careindefinitely for fear of losing state contracts and funding, our family felt the floor fall from underneath us. Even though every major medical association in America supports gender-affirming care, the trusted medical professionals whose decadeslong careers we relied on to keep Noah healthy and safe were unable to fulfill their Hippocratic Oath and their commitment to my son. Plan B was now turning into Plan A. With even our medical institutions failing us in Houston, it was time to move our son to a safer place where he could simply be himself — to go to school to learn without fear and to have consistent access to best-practice, lifesaving medical care.
We acted quickly as a family, breaking the news of our pending out-of-state move to Noah over an unforgettably sad dinner. “I kind of figured, Mom. I hate it, but it’s for the best,” was his response. And that was that.
Over the following weeks, we researched safe states, schools and gender clinics. I called local LGBTQ organizations, tried to negotiate with doctors about their 18-month-plus waitlists for new patients and looked up museums, parks, bookstores and taco stands (we’re Texan; it’s a major food group). And we found that soft place to land in Colorado — an inclusive, affirming place with a far more visible trans population, incredible nature and seemingly never-ending sunshine.
That 1,028-mile drive to Colorado uprooted our family from all that we knew and every support system that we had ever had.
We took a gamble by staying in Texas until the summer so Noah could finish up the school year and have a couple of more months with friends and family. As time ticked down, we lived in fear of knocks on the door and calls from unknown numbers that could have been CPS investigators. The threat of a potential investigation of our family loomed over us as we packed our lives away in cardboard boxes and large plastic storage containers. When our June move date arrived, we were heartbroken but ready for peace.
That 1,028-mile drive to Colorado uprooted our family from all that we knew and every support system that we had ever had. It was the outcome of an impossibly unfair decision forced upon a loving family who refused to lose their child for political gains. Noah’s right to exist as himself — a transgender young man — shouldn’t be up for debate, nor should a politician be allowed to dictate how our family partners with our medical team to care for him and prepare for his bright future ahead.
There’s a tremendous amount of guilt in leaving a community you love in turmoil; many families are at this very moment grappling with this decision of a potential move, while others simply can’t or won’t pick up their lives and leave, refusing to allow Gov. Abbott and his cronies to push them away. There are remarkable organizationsleading this fight against the assault on trans children and their families, and we will continue to support them and fight for the basic human rights of Texans for the rest of our lives.
Despite it all, Texas is where our hearts reside, no matter how many miles might separate us and how directly damaging Republican rhetoric has been. In years to come, we hope to pack up that car again (car-sick dog included) and view the mountains from the rearview mirror this time — on our way home.
LGBTQ Victory Fund candidates Christian Manuel-Hayes and Venton Jones won the elections for Texas state House Districts 22 and 100, respectively. Both Manuel-Hayes and Jones are now the first Black out LGBTQ men ever elected to the Texas state legislature. Also tonight, Jolanda Jones won reelection for Texas state House District 147. Jones made history earlier this year when she won the special election for House District 147 and became the first Black out LGBTQ person ever elected to the state legislature. A record number of LGBTQ people ran for state legislatures this year.
Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund, issued the following statement:
“Bigots like Greg Abbott emboldened a wave of anti-LGBTQ hate this year – but their hate has fueled LGBTQ people to step up and run for office like never before. Christian, Venton and Jolanda shattered these lavender ceilings because of their deep policy experience and exceptional ground game. They’ve never backed down when our rights are on the line and we are confident they’ll channel this courage and compassion in Austin. For far too long, Black and LGBTQ Texans have lacked equitable representation. Tonight, we are taking a meaningful step forward.”
There are currently just seven out LGBTQ state lawmakers in the Texas state legislature, according to LGBTQ Victory Institute.
Victory Fund is tracking Election Night results at victoryfund.org/2022.
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LGBTQ Victory Fund
LGBTQ Victory Fund works to achieve and sustain equality by increasing the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials at all levels of government while ensuring they reflect the diversity of those they serve. Since 1991, Victory Fund has helped thousands of openly LGBTQ candidates win local, state and federal elections.
LGBTQ Victory Fund candidates Erin Maye Quade and Clare Oumou Verbeten won the elections for Florida’s 56th and 66th state Senate Districts. With these historic victories, both are now the first out LGBTQ women and first Black women ever elected to the Minnesota state Senate. A record number of LGBTQ people ran for the Minnesota state legislature this year, all 11 of whom won their elections tonight. With these historic wins, LGBTQ representation has more than doubled in the state legislature and tripled in the state Senate.
Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund, issued the following statement:
“Minnesota saw a Rainbow Wave of state legislative candidates this year because it is crystal clear that the future of abortion rights, LGBTQ equality and so much more will be decided in state legislatures in the coming months. Erin and Clare have the deep policy experience and grassroots support to be effective leaders in Saint Paul. Voters were clearly excited by their vision for a more equitable and inclusive society. With relentless efforts to diminish our community’s political power, it’s never been more important to elect pro-equality, pro-choice leaders. Tonight, Minnesota voters delivered.”
There are currently just five out LGBTQ state legislators in Minnesota, none of whom are Black women, according to LGBTQ Victory Institute. To reach equitable representation, the U.S. must elect 346 more out LGBTQ people to state legislatures.
Victory Fund is tracking Election Night results at victoryfund.org/2022.
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LGBTQ Victory Fund
LGBTQ Victory Fund works to achieve and sustain equality by increasing the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials at all levels of government while ensuring they reflect the diversity of those they serve. Since 1991, Victory Fund has helped thousands of openly LGBTQ candidates win local, state and federal elections.
LGBTQ Victory Fund candidate Zoeey Zephyr won the election for Montana’s 100th state House District. With this historic victory, she is now the first out trans person ever elected to the Montana state legislature. SJ Howell, running for Montana’s 95th state House District, would be the first nonbinary person elected to the Montana state legislature; SJ’s race has not yet been called. A record number of trans and nonbinary candidates ran for office in the 2022 midterm elections.
Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund, issued the following statement:
“Tonight is a resounding win for Montana and for trans people across the country. From tackling the housing crisis to securing affordable health care, Zooey is ready to enact policy founded in equity and fairness. Montana, like so many other communities, has seen a deluge of transphobia and bigotry this year. Zooey courageously ran despite this divisiveness and her win is a deafening rebuke to hate. We are confident she will be a skilled, powerful legislator and an inspiration for trans people across the country.”
There are currently just eight out trans state legislators in the entire country, according to LGBTQ Victory Institute. There are currently only six out LGBTQ elected officials in Montana.
Victory Fund is tracking Election Night results at victoryfund.org/2022.
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LGBTQ Victory Fund
LGBTQ Victory Fund works to achieve and sustain equality by increasing the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials at all levels of government while ensuring they reflect the diversity of those they serve. Since 1991, Victory Fund has helped thousands of openly LGBTQ candidates win local, state and federal elections.
LGBTQ Victory Fund candidate Eric Sorensen won the election for Illinois’ 17th Congressional District. With this historic victory, Sorensen is now the first out LGBTQ person ever elected to Congress from Illinois. A record number of LGBTQ people ran for Congress this year.
Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund, issued the following statement:
“Eric shattered a rainbow ceiling and it could not come at a more important moment – when LGBTQ equality and abortion rights are on the chopping block in ever corner of the nation, including in Congress. Eric spent the last two decades keeping his local community safe by telling the truth and promoting a data-first approach to policy. His success tonight is a testament to the grassroots support he energized, as well as a highly effective ground game focused on candid conversations about how to make our government work better for all Americans. Eric’s pro-equality and pro-choice leadership will be critical to the future of our fundamental rights and freedoms.”
There are currently just 11 out LGBTQ people serving in Congress. To reach equitable representation, voters must elect 21 more LGBTQ people to the U.S. House of Representatives and five more LGBTQ people to the U.S. Senate, according to LGBTQ Victory Institute.
Victory Fund is tracking Election Night results at victoryfund.org/2022.
_________________
LGBTQ Victory Fund
LGBTQ Victory Fund works to achieve and sustain equality by increasing the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials at all levels of government while ensuring they reflect the diversity of those they serve. Since 1991, Victory Fund has helped thousands of openly LGBTQ candidates win local, state and federal elections.
LGBTQ Victory Fund candidate Erick Russell won the election for Connecticut state Treasurer. With this victory, he is now the first Black out LGBTQ person ever elected to statewide office in U.S. history. A record number of Black out LGBTQ candidates ran for public office this year.
Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund, issued the following statement:
“For far too long, people of color and the LGBTQ community have lacked equitable representation in government. Erick shattered this lavender ceiling and made history because voters trust him to usher in a new chapter for Connecticut and our nation, one founded in inclusion and compassion. His deep policy experience and grassroots support will make him an exceptional state executive. Not only is his win a sharp rebuke of the current wave of homophobia and racism plaguing our country, it’s a moment of inspiration for our community that our political future is brighter than ever.”
There are currently just 115 Black out LGBTQ elected officials serving in the U.S., none of whom serve in statewide positions, according to LGBTQ Victory Institute.
Victory Fund is tracking election results at victoryfund.org/2022.
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LGBTQ Victory Fund
LGBTQ Victory Fund works to achieve and sustain equality by increasing the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials at all levels of government while ensuring they reflect the diversity of those they serve. Since 1991, Victory Fund has helped thousands of openly LGBTQ candidates win local, state and federal elections.
The trial over Arkansas’ ban on gender-affirming care for trans children recently began. As vulnerable children await to hear if their bodily autonomy will be stripped away, we should remember that cisgender children seek gender-affirming care with relatively little social stigma attached.
Twenty years ago, in rural Maine, I was one of them.
As a teen boy who identified as a boy — randomly sprouting breasts really, really sucked. I hated my body, wore a shirt in the pool, dreaded the school locker room, dressed in layers and walked hunched over to hide my shape.
When I was going through puberty, my body’s hormones were firing in every direction, and I started developing breast tissue similar to a girl’s. The technical term for this condition is gynecomastia, but most of us know it as the dreaded “man-boobs.” Up to 60% of teen boys have asymptomatic gynecomastia, according to the National Institutes of Health. Adolescent symptomatic cases, like mine, are less prevalent, but it affects about 65% of adult men.
As a teen boy who identified as a boy — randomly sprouting breasts really, really sucked. I hated my body, wore a shirt in the pool, dreaded the school locker room, dressed in layers and walked hunched over to hide my shape. I lived in constant fear of nipple-grabbers at school (teen boys are weird) and being outed as a “boob-haver.” I was uncomfortable and embarrassed 24/7 and had about zero percent confidence in myself, all because of the misalignment between how I felt I should look and how I actually looked.
When I confided in my conservative dad about what was happening, I was about 15. He saw how much this was holding me back, and we immediately went to a plastic surgeon for a consultation. A quick procedure and a few weeks of wearing an ace bandage later, I was flat-chested and finally had a body that looked like mine.
Trans children deserve the same consideration.
The next year was the best year of my life up to that point. I felt great. I felt confident. I made a ton of new friends, decided to get in shape, played a sport, put gel in my hair, started dating, partied — all the good stuff. For the first time, I felt and acted like an average teen instead of just barely participating out of aggressive discomfort and fear. I went from a guy who hated being seen to the most seen guy at school in no time.
Over the years, I’ve had medical procedures that saved my body, but my breast reduction saved my mind. Receiving care that affirmed my perceptions of my gender drastically changed my life for the better. I can attest that having mind-body alignment feels like a superpower.
The care that I received is just one small example of the gender-affirming care that cisgender folks receive regularly. We just call it “health care.” I got breast-tissue reduction surgery, but breast augmentation for cisgender women to conform to a perception of womanhood is even more common. Cisgender people alter their eyes, noses, lips, faces, hairlines, facial hair, body hair, height and even the nether regions to more closely align with our culture’s ideals of “the perfect man” or “the perfect woman.”
We frequently change or “enhance” our bodies hormonally, too. Kids have been dosed with human growth hormone since the ‘60s to make them taller, and men looking to achieve a cartoonish level of “manliness” get testosterone pumped into their veins. Hormone replacement therapy is commonplace for cis-women and menlooking to maintain or enhance their vitality in ways that align with their gender identities and gender ideals.
The care that I received is just one small example of the gender-affirming care that cisgender folks receive regularly. We just call it “health care.”
But I don’t see the care that affirms cisgender norms, expectations and functions, including for children, being questioned to the same extent as transgender care. By contrast, even the most basic of trans care — respecting gender identity and expression, puberty blockers and hormone therapy — is scrutinized endlessly and demonized to the point of being life-threatening for patients and doctors alike.
The double standard is glaring. And a recent viral interview between Jon Stewart and Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge about her state’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth points to a large part of the problem. Without being able to name a credible source, Rutledge claimed that 98% of youth with gender dysphoria would grow out of it. To which Stewart replied, “Wow, that’s an incredibly made-up figure.”
This idea of elected officials stripping away the autonomy of parents and children to make the kinds of medical decisions that would be best for them is appalling. As Stewart pointed out to Rutledge, the state is not even allowing parents to weigh their options based on the guidelines of the country’s top medical organizations.
We should think more deeply and compassionately about those seeking health care in the trans community as they suffer mind-body misalignment that many of us can’t even imagine. Having a little empathy is a good thing, and for those of us who get to bathe in the privilege of doing whatever the hell we want to our bodies, it’s probably even our responsibility.
Some folks may disagree that the care I received was gender-affirming, and I’ll admit I’m not an expert on health care — cis, trans or otherwise — but I am an expert on me, what I did and why I did it. For me, it was straightforward: I’m a dude, I was born a dude, I want to be a dude, and having breasts didn’t align with that for me. They needed to go for me to live a fuller life.
Some may also argue that societal pressures and expectations influenced my choices, and to that, I don’t necessarily disagree. Who knows, if breasts on a guy were the pinnacle of manliness in 2002, I might have rocked it, but surgery is a lot faster than turning the Titanic of culture, and I would have missed some of the best years of my life waiting.
Here’s what I know for sure, had I been trans and seeking the same surgery, there’s a good chance it wouldn’t have been as easy as it was for me — 20 years ago in rural Maine or today.
LGBTQ Victory Fund candidates Jennie Armstrong and Andrew Gray won their elections for Alaska’s 16th and 20th state House Districts. Armstrong is the first out LGBTQ woman and Gray is the first out LGBTQ man ever elected to the Alaska state legislature. Alaska is one of just four U.S. states with zero LGBTQ state lawmakers, according to LGBTQ Victory Institute. A record number of LGBTQ people ran for state legislatures this year.
Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund, issued the following statement:
“It is no coincidence that in the wake of a historic wave of anti-LGBTQ laws introduced in state legislatures across the country – including in Alaska – a record number of LGBTQ candidates are running for state legislatures. Alaskans are ready for the change Jennifer and Andrew will bring to Juneau because they know the status quo is not working. In the coming months, state legislatures will determine the future of marriage equality and abortion rights. We are confident pro-equality, pro-choice leaders like Jennie and Andrew will fight tooth and nail on behalf of our community.”
Ashley Carrick, running for Alaska’s 35th House District, is on track to win her election.
To reach equitable representation, the U.S. must elect 346 more out LGBTQ people to state legislatures, according to LGBTQ Victory Institute.
Victory Fund is tracking election results at victoryfund.org/2022.
_________________
LGBTQ Victory Fund
LGBTQ Victory Fund works to achieve and sustain equality by increasing the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials at all levels of government while ensuring they reflect the diversity of those they serve. Since 1991, Victory Fund has helped thousands of openly LGBTQ candidates win local, state and federal elections.