Brad Hoylman is a State Senator from New York’s 27th Senate District, which includes a good deal of Manhattan — including Greenwich Village, where he resides. Hoylman is an openly gay and Jewish politician; in fact, he is the only openly LGBTQ+ member of the State Senate. According to his website, “Brad is the prime sponsor of legislation legalizing gestational surrogacy in New York and banning so-called LGBTQ conversion therapy, and he is a co-sponsor of the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act.” Hoylman practices Judaism openly, and, along with his family, belongs to a prominent New York LGBT synagogue Congregation.
Hoylman posted a photo on Twitter Tuesday night of a swastika that had been carved into a wall in his apartment building. Hoylman believes the hate symbol to be tied to Trump’s election.
https://twitter.com/bradhoylman
Some, however, have claimed that there is no correlation between the incident and Trump’s election, or even that Hoylman flat-out lied about it ever occurring.
https://twitter.com/bradhoylman
https://twitter.com/BreadNCircusUSA/status/798708829567549440
Most of the tweets come from conservative and Trump-supporting accounts.
Some of the online critics said that antisemitism does not occur in liberal space, such as New York City, but that is clearly not the case. An incident at SUNY New Paltz, a liberal arts school, occurred just this past Thursday, immediately following the election. Graffitti was “scrawled inside the bathroom stall racially charged messages, along with the word “Trump” written next drawn out hearts.[sic]” Make no mistake; this hateful rhetoric directly correlates to Trump’s election.
Whether the individual who drew it was deliberately trying to target Hoylman is unclear, but hate crimes have been on the rise ever since the announcement of Trump’s election. Incidents of racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, xenophobia, homophobia, and transphobia have been occurring more frequently and to escalating degrees in the wake of the news.
According to The Southern Poverty Law Center, they have aggregated “437 reports of hateful intimidation and harassment” since Trump’s election.
This bigotry, however, cannot win. New York is tough, and it is a city that will stand up to this bigotry. New York has been the center of many of the protests of Trump’s election, and Mayor De Blasio has come out in support of both the activism and of Hoylman. The Mayor tweeted the city’s solidarity with the representative and spoke out specifically against anti-semitism.
https://twitter.com/NYCMayor/status/798720597857595393
People are fighting back against the hate crimes and terrorizing actions. The White Supremacists might be celebrating now, but though vigilance, activism, and by caring for those most at risk in the community, we can band together and stop the violence.
You can help by going to protests, advocating for and supporting those who are being subject to harassment (this guide may help), reporting hate crimes (you can do so with the FBI here), and by actively being informed (The Southern Poverty Law Center is a great source). You can also become engaged by calling your local representative to block the appointment of Steve Bannon and other white supremacists to Trump’s cabinet.
Cover Image Source: https://twitter.com/bradhoylman
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