Zohran Mamdani’s New NYC Mayoral Ad Pays Tribute To Sylvia Rivera And Calls For LGBTQ+ Justice
Framing Rivera’s story as a call to courage, Mamdani commits to expanding housing, healthcare, and legal protections for LGBTQ+ residents.
Featured image by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images
On National Coming Out Day, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani released a two-minute campaign video that centers the life of Sylvia Rivera, the Puerto Rican-Venezuelan trans activist whose courage helped ignite the modern LGBTQ rights movement. Standing at the Christopher Street Pier, where Rivera once lived when she had nowhere else to go, Mamdani pledged to transform New York into a city that defends and cherishes its trans residents.
“It was here on the physical margins of our city that they found a home,” Mamdani says in the ad. “She arrived here at the age of 11, where she immediately landed in the center of the gay rights movement. She befriended the legendary Marsha P. Johnson, protested at Stonewall, and led marches for equality. But even among the queer community, trans New Yorkers were excluded. Rivera and others were discouraged from walking in Pride, their participation erased from Stonewall history.”
Related: Zohran Mamdani Announces Protection Plan For LGBTQ+ New Yorkers
The video, scored with an instrumental version of SOPHIE’s “It’s OK to Cry,” intertwines Rivera’s voice with archival footage from her 1973 Pride rally speech, where she famously chastised the crowd for sidelining trans women. Mamdani uses that history to sound an alarm. “Since taking office, Donald Trump has waged a scorched-earth campaign against trans people. The man with the most power has expended enormous energy targeting those with the least,” he says.
Rivera co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, or STAR, with Marsha P. Johnson in 1970. The group provided food and shelter to trans youth who had been pushed out of their homes. Mamdani draws a direct line from STAR’s mission to his own policy agenda. He promises to create an Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, deploy “hundreds of lawyers” to fight federal attacks on trans rights, and dedicate millions toward housing programs and gender-affirming care. “New York will not sit idly by while trans people are attacked,” he says in the ad. “We will deploy hundreds of lawyers to combat Trump’s hate, make New York City an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and create the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs to allocate millions for youth and adult housing programs as well as gender-affirming care.”
Related: Trump Admin To Withhold $36 Million In Funding For NYC Schools Over Transgender Bathroom Policies
In the crowded political landscape of 2025, Mamdani’s decision to make trans liberation a centerpiece of his campaign is rare and resonant. He’s not just invoking Sylvia Rivera’s name for symbolism; he’s using her story as a moral blueprint for governance.
As he concluded in the video, “In a time of darkness, New York must be the light.”
A recent Quinnipiac University poll shows Zohran Mamdani ahead in the race, earning support from 46 percent of likely voters. Independent contender Andrew Cuomo follows with 33 percent, gaining slightly after Eric Adams exited the race earlier this month. Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa sits in third place with 15 percent. Voters will head to the polls on November 4.
