After a decade of grueling advocacy work, the Caribbean Equality Project (CEP) in Queens is celebrating a major milestone.
Mohamed Q. Amin founded CEP in 2015 in Richmond Hill, Queens, on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality. “It became a monumental celebration for all LGBTQ people, and for us as an organization, it just amplified the work that we were doing,” said Amin.
The incident that sparked the idea for the organization was not as celebratory, though: Amin said that he, his brother, and partner survived an act of violence in 2013 in his neighborhood.
“A large part of the reason was there were no resources or no space for LGBTQ Caribbean immigrants to access immigration services, mental health services, community spaces,” said Amin. “Part of my healing journey was to also be able to create these spaces. In a way, you can say I turned trauma into activism.”
CEP is a thriving community-based organization that advocates for Afro and Indo-Caribbean, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender nonconforming, and queer Caribbean immigrants in New York City through public education, HIV/AIDS prevention and care, community organizing, civic engagement, storytelling, and racial justice, as well as gender equity programming. The organization also uplifts Black and Brown Muslim, Hindu, and Christian members of the Caribbean diaspora of all generations. Their programs, such as Unchained, run year round.
Over the last decade, CEP had to respond to multiple crises in the city, including the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the influx of migrants and asylum seekers in 2022. It’s been an exhausting, albeit fulfilling, experience, Amin said.
“The last few years as a grassroots organization have been really hard,” he said. “It’s been emotionally draining. It’s been physically taxing. It’s been challenging to navigate the complexities of who qualifies for social services in New York City. Many of our community members have fled the Caribbean and crossed the border in dangerous journeys to just simply be in America, and they view America as the land of opportunity, but for many LGBTQ Caribbean people, they view America as hope, as a place of belonging and as a place of survival.”
Amin said that during the pandemic, immigrants were hailed as essential workers, but now, just five years later, they’re being labeled as “dangerous” or “criminals” by the city and federal government. He said this messaging has contributed to a decrease in foot traffic in immigrant neighborhoods; a decrease in support for small businesses; and families experiencing fear and isolation, and deciding not to send their children to school. He noted that many are also opting to “self-deport” because of a fear of being jailed, retained, or imprisoned in a violent or inhumane way.
In the face of this growing anti-immigrant sentiment and transphobia, especially since President Donald Trump took office in January, CEP has added ‘Know Your Rights’ training, immigration legal services, mental health referrals, and workshops on the Trump administration’s executive orders and how they impact the local community.
People are responding “from the fear of mass deportation to the attacks on trans healthcare to the visceral erasure of trans people at the federal level,” said Amin, referring to the “rebrand” of the Stonewall Inn without the T for transgender.
CEP supports more than 500 asylum seekers from countries like Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, and Grenada. Amin said many have fled their home countries because of political turmoil or anti-LGBTQ violence. The organization also employs eight asylum seekers.
At the city level, CEP is supporting Councilmember Shahana Hanif’s bills on access to reproductive health at the upcoming gender equity hearing on Thursday, Feb. 27. This bill would update an existing local law to prevent interference with access to reproductive healthcare facilities and protect access to facilities offering gender-affirming care.
“I think what we’re seeing now is a compounded political attack on trans people,” Amin said. “We’re seeing a continuation of hate and fear -mongering from the federal government. We’re seeing the erasure of LGBTQ identities not only in history, but also in schools through education. We’re seeing diversity, equity, and inclusion being weaponized against LGBTQ people, and people of color [who] have historically been marginalized, oppressed, and lacked opportunities, and what we are also witnessing is a national crisis on LGBTQ bodies — a national crisis that’s attacking LGBTQ existence.”
Amin said the truth is that more and more Americans have personal ties to the LGBTQ community, whether through family members, friends, or co-workers.
According to Gallup polling of adult Americans, there was a 9.3% jump in last year’s survey of people identifying as LGBTQ+, representative of a percentage that’s “nearly doubled” since 2020 and is up from 3.5% in 2012. Gallup found that younger generations of Americans are much more likely than older generations, before 1946 to even 2006, to have more fluid sexual identities. This confirms the increased visibility of LGBTQ people as a whole compared to previous generations, which Amin said is being weaponized against the community now.
“We know the power of our community,” he said. “We vote, we’re educated, we are contributing to the economic fabric of America. We’re contributing to the political landscape of America and we’re contributing to the diversity of America. These are all components of what being an American looks like and what being a New Yorker looks like.”
Senator Jabari Brisport, one of two openly gay state senators and New York State’s first openly queer person of color ever elected, recently received the Changemaker Award from the The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) Community Center for his work in the community.
“It’s not lost on me — the position I occupy,” said Brisport. “And wWe live in very scary times for the queer community.”
One of Brisport’s pathways into politics was fighting for marriage equality while he was a student in college. He helped lobby the state Senate in 2009, lost the vote, and came back in 2011. He was elected to his seat in 2021. Since then, he’s co-sponsored the Lorena Borjas Transgender and Non-Binary Wellness and Equity Fund (TWEF) and supported the Trans Safe Haven Act and the state’s Equal Rights Amendment.
Brisport theorized that far-right Republican and conservative groups target transgender and nonbinary or gender-nonconforming people in an attempt to sow division because they are a smaller population within a minority group.
“This is out of the playbook of so many authoritarian governments: You find a very small group and you start vilifying them and use them as a political tactic to rally your base,” said Brisport. “Naked political move. I know they don’t think they’d be as successful if they tried that with gay or lesbian or bisexual people who are larger segments of the population.”
Brisport added that as someone of Guyanese heritage from Brooklyn, he knows the Caribbean has a ways to go with LGBTQ rights. He commended the Caribbean Equality Project for their work. “This movement needs to be led by Caribbeans and the CEP is doing great work,” he said.
CEP will hold its official 10th anniversary celebration on Mar. 20, 2025, at the Rhythm of Transformation benefit in Manhattan. For information and tickets, go to www.caribbeanequalityproject.org/rhythms-of-transformation.
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