A Harlem councilwoman is pushing legislation that would require city leaders overseeing museums and nightlife to appoint a laureate of the Big Apple’s growing drag performance scene.
Democratic socialist Councilwoman Kristin Richardson Jordan introduced a bill Thursday that would require a “drag laureate” to be picked annually by the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs in consultation with the head of the Mayor’s Office of Nightlife.
During Thursday’s City Council meeting, Richardson Jordan said the drag laureate would serve as the city’s “ambassador to LGBTQ nightlife.”
“As a black queer woman, I know what it is to feel invisible,” said Richardson Jordan, who has come under fire during her first year on the Council for bashing the NYPD as the city’s “biggest gang” and blaming Ukraine — for being invaded by Russia.
“Let’s do the work to make sure that all corners of our city can be seen, be heard, be visible and be incorporated.”
Last year, then-Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Queens) introduced similar legislation in a bid to boost the local LGBTQ business community and promote the city’s arts scene, but it stalled in a committee.
Richardson Jordan is hoping for better luck with a new City Council and nightlife-loving Mayor Eric Adams now running City Hall.
Mayoral spokesman Fabien Levy said “Adams has a long history of supporting the LGBTQ+ community and will continue to do so. Our team is reviewing this legislation now.”
Two years ago, the city of West Hollywood in California reportedly became the first municipality in the United States to approve the position of drag laureate.