Silver Stands in Solidarity with the LGBTQ+ Community

Dear Silver Community, 

Our School began Pride Month with a message of celebration, affirming our solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community and efforts to protect their civil rights and safety. As the month draws to a close, I hope that you also share my alarm at the growing wave of anti-LGBTQ+ bills in states across America. More than 500 bills targeting transgender and other LGBTQ+ people have been introduced this year alone, with at least 75 signed into law, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Striving to end discrimination and other forms of social injustice is among the core tenets of the social work profession. As research by NYU Silver scholars has found, bias is linked to mental health disparities and unequal health outcomes in the LGBTQ+ community, with especially high impacts on BIPOC, youth, low-income, and other vulnerable communities.  That’s why it’s important to oppose legislation that would deny health care and other services to people who have transgender, LGB, gender-non-binary, and queer identities. 

Silver stands in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community in this matter. I also want to stress the importance of our continuing commitment to ensure that our school environment and curriculum are grounded in intersectional, anti-oppressive theories and approaches. If we are to lead within the social work field, it is important that we remain true to our commitment to social justice in this, and all, matters.

Michael A. Lindsey
Dean and Paulette Goddard Professor of Social Work