Elisa Crespo | |
---|---|
Born |
New York City,
New York, U.S. |
Education | John Jay College of Criminal Justice |
Political party | Democratic Party |
Website |
www |
Elisa Crespo is an American activist, nonprofit executive, and politician from New York City. She is the executive director of the New Pride Agenda. [1] Crespo ran in the 2021 New York City Council election.
Crespo was born in New York City, and raised in several boroughs of the city by her Puerto Rican mother. [2] [3] [4] During her childhood, her family relied on public benefits such as food stamps, Section 8, and Medicaid. [3] [5] After she met other trans women and understood her own identity, she transitioned when she was 15. [3] [2] [6] She began sex work by age 16, and at 19 was diagnosed with HIV. [7] In November 2012, she was arrested for sex work. [8] [9] [10] She attended college for a year before dropping out, and later married and became convinced by her mother-in-law to return to school. [3]
After returning to college, she participated in student government, lobbied legislators in Albany, New York on issues related to higher education, [3] and was an organizer against City University of New York tuition increases. [10] During college, she was inspired to become politically active by her coursework and politicians including Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. [2] [6] She graduated from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2019 with a Bachelor's degree in political science. [2] [8]
From January through May 2019, Crespo interned with the Assembly Speaker, Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) and then interned for the New York City Council as a legislative intern until August 2019. [7] [11] After her graduation, Crespo worked as the education liaison to the Bronx Borough President, Ruben Diaz Jr., with a focus on advocacy for special education students. [2] [8] [7]
In February 2020, Crespo decided to run for the 15th district in the 2021 New York City Council election. [2] [3] During her campaign, she described her overall priority as moving people and the community from "generational poverty to generational wealth." [9] Specific campaign goals included the creation of more affordable housing, a "public option for employment," and more funding for public schools. [9] [12] Crespo advocated for the creation of a government-funded apprenticeship program for unemployed New Yorkers to help develop skills and obtain full-time employment, inspired by the New Deal enacted by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt. [13] She also advocated for racial justice, criminal justice reforms, improvements in public health, and action to address climate change. [14] [15] [16]
In November 2020, the New York Post published an article about her with a headline calling her an "ex-prostitute." [2] [8] [9] In response, Crespo tweeted it was "shameful for anyone to weaponize transphobic victimization", [3] and that she previously "publicly talked about all of this". [8] Public officials, LGBTQ activists, and allies on social media also expressed support for her and the transgender community. [9] [17] [18] In March 2021, parts of the article were included on a flyer that questioned "sex work experience versus public service," and Crespo responded by promoting awareness of violence against trans people. [14] [19]
Crespo was endorsed by the LGBTQ Victory Fund, [10] the New York Black Lives Caucus, the Bronx chapter of the Sunrise Movement, former New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, [12] New York City Councilmembers Helen Rosenthal, Antonio Reynoso, [13] Ben Kallos, Jimmy Van Bramer, and Brad Lander, as well as New York State Senators Brad Hoylman, [9] Julia Salazar, [12] and Gustavo Rivera. The special election was held on March 23, 2021, [20] [12] with Crespo eliminated in the eighth round of ranked-choice voting. [21] On April 6, 2021, Crespo announced she would not run in the Democratic primary in June. [22]
In July 2021, Crespo became the Executive Director of the New Pride Agenda, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, with a focus that includes LGBTQ youth, including advocacy for the Dignity for All Students Act to address anti-LGBTQ bullying; sex workers' rights, including advocacy for the Stop Violence in the Sex Trades Act to decriminalize sex work; and advocacy for PrEP access expansion. [1] [23]