On one of the most beautiful brownstone-lined blocks in the country, there’s a dwelling that will soon be filled with queer and trans young people getting a second chance at life. The Ali Forney Center, a New York institution that has provided beds and services to unhoused queer and trans youth since 2002, just inaugurated a formerly abandoned mansion that will be an oasis of rest and peace for dozens of houseless trans and gender-nonconforming young people.
This is a pretty massive deal when you consider that the Trump administration so far has defunded $2.67 billion from LGBTQ initiatives all across the country, per the Human Rights Watch. Even without the administration’s diabolical actions, queer people have always been disproportionately affected by the housing crisis; trans people are eight times more likely to be houseless than their cis counterparts, per UCLA. A staggering 95% of AFC’s clients are people of color and more than half are seeking refuge from other parts of the country.
On the rainy October morning of Casa Cecilia’s opening, I walked in and was greeted by a mantle honoring Cecilia Gentili, a queer rights activist who passed away in 2024. Above a painting of her, the words “Travesti,” “Puta” and “Bendita” (transvestite, whore and blessed), terms she proudly used to describe herself when she lived, are scribbled in golden letters. The mansion was thoughtfully remodeled with its most important historic details kept intact. It was honest, it was warm and it actually felt like a home.
