City Council - Civil Rights, Racial Equity, & Immigrant Advancement Committee Hearing on Docket #1670

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Hello, everybody. My name is Ben Weber. I'm the District 6 City Councilor and the Chair of the Boston City Council Committee on Civil Rights, Racial Equity, and Immigrant Advancement. Today is November 12th, 2025, and the exact time is 2.11. This hearing is being recorded. It is also being live streamed at boston.gov slash city dash council dash tv and broadcast on Xfinity channel 8, RCN channel 82, and Fios Channel 964. Written comments may be sent to the committee email at ccc.civilrights at boston.gov and will be made a part of the record and available to all counselors. Public testimony will be taken at the end of this hearing. Individuals will be called on the order in which they sign up and will have two minutes to testify. If you're interested in testifying in person,

Please add your name to the sign-up sheet near the entrance of the chamber. If you are looking to testify virtually, please email our central staff liaison, Shane Pack, at shane.pac. at boston.gov for the link and your name will be added to the list. Today's hearing is on docket number 1670. Order for a hearing to ensure access to life-saving online resources for LGBTQIA plus and other marginalized communities in response to proposed state and federal digital censorship legislation. This matter was sponsored by Councilor Henry Santana and was referred to the committee on September 17th, 2025.

Today's hearing is an opportunity for our body to discuss exploring ways that the City of Boston can proactively protect online freedom of expression, resources, and privacy, especially for LGBTQIA plus youth and for all marginalized communities. Online spaces can offer lifesaving resources for these individuals and serve as a platform for forming communities, something necessary for youth who experience disproportionately high rates of Mental Health Issues. Today, I hope we can answer how Boston can proactively counteract negative impacts of federal technology laws which limit youth access to lifesaving resources and communities. So today I am joined by my colleagues on order of arrival. The sponsor of this hearing, Henry Santana, Councilor Sharon Durkan is over there, and Councilor Liz Breadon to my right.

I'm just going to offer to the lead sponsor if you have an opening statement. And then I think we are going to hear from the panel who's before us. Santana.

Thank you, Chair Weber, and good afternoon, everyone. You know, in our current political climate, the LGBTQIA2S plus community is under constant attack. One of the ways this is done is through local, statewide, and national legislation seeking to restrict the ability of these communities to gather and communicate online. Online spaces are essential lifelines for the LGBTQIA2S plus community, and it's one of the utmost importance that we protect these spaces from attacks in the form of digital censorship. Proposed legislation at the state and federal levels have threatened youth's ability to access these resources under the guise of protecting minors. But we know that this censorship is not taken in good faith. Instead of protecting our youth, cutting access to these online spaces would deeply harm them.

These online spaces, not those who seek to cut off youth access to them, are what protects our youth by giving Thank you. Thank you. as we as a city must take action to resist that. The issue doesn't only impact the LGBTQIA2 plus community. Digital censorship impacts countless other marginalized communities, including survivors of abuse and those seeking reproductive healthcare. Criminalizing access to information, whether it's related to LGBTQIA plus identities or reproductive healthcare, is impermissible attack on the basic freedoms of all people.

Part of being an affirming city and protecting our LGBTQIA2S plus residents is ensuring the community's continued access to these vital online resources. to hearing from these panels, especially our youth panel in front of us today, to better understand the impacts proposed by legislation that would have on marginalized communities, particularly in our LGBTQIA2S plus community. and explore how we as a city can protect our residents' rights to free expression, privacy and access to life-saving resources. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you very much. Just to my other colleagues, I'm just going to let the sponsor Make an opening statement. We're going to hear from the panel. to ask a question. We're going to have three panels. The first is a group of advocates who I'll introduce shortly. Secondly, we're going to hear from the administration and a third panel of advocates after that. I believe this group of panelists is more in the youth space and maybe just younger people. So we've put you here first because we want to hear your voices. We're joined right now by From my right to my left, Teddy Walker, who's the youth leader and organizer of Protect Trans Futures. We have Sam, oh my God, Bruch? I've got close enough. It's spelled B-R-U-E-T-S-C-H, so anyone who thinks I'm just unable to, this is a difficult to pronounce name.

Sam is the youth leader for Bagley. and Craig Rasberry on my left is associated with break time, right? So we'll start. I would like to hear statements from you, whatever you want to tell us. We're going to go in order of arrival. So I'll start with you, Craig.

Hello, my name is Craig and I'm a 19-year-old trans man. I had to run from my house in Texas because of political climate scariness and my parents were going to send me to conversion therapy. and I needed to flee to somewhere that was more LGBTQ safe. For a little bit of time, I was in Virginia and I looked up an organization that really helped me through And they were a specifically queer organization that gave me stipends when I was unable to work and whenever I had no family for a while. And that is what got me through my time there. And when I came up to Boston, I had I was back at square one. I had nothing. And I found a couple of queer organizations that really helped me out while I was homeless in Boston. And one of them is here today, Bagley. And they were one of the only reasons that I really stayed afloat.

If I never got the ability to look up on my phone, if things were censored on my phone, if there were walls that were blocking me from seeing LGBTQ resources, I don't think I would be here I think I would still be at square one. I think it is so harmful to cover these resources up because someone like me could really be at that point where it is just make or break.

Thank you very much. Sam, again, I apologize for having difficulty pronouncing your last name, but the floor is yours.

My name is Sam Bruch. I use he, him pronouns. I'm a queer trans man. Coming a little bit outside of Boston. I've been in Boston proper for the past three years. Like so many folks my age, a lot of My growing up and discovering my identity happened during lockdown when I wasn't able to talk to anybody or leave my house at often points. With that, a lot of my growing up happened because of the internet. Being able to access YouTube was the first time I was able to see people with any level of queer and trans representation. As I've grown into adulthood, it's still the majority of the place that I find out different organizations that I find out where my people are. especially now as a peer leader at Bagley, that's where most people find us. The big fear with censorship is that not only

I won't be able to find my people, find where I should go to events where I can access areas of support, but we'll be losing organizationally more youth who need to access our services.

Okay, thank you very much, Teddy.

Hi, I'm Teddy, and I use they, them pronouns. As a young trans person growing up in South Texas, my first relationship with the queer community was through my phone. I grew up in a very Christian conservative bubble where I was 13 and I didn't even know what being gay meant. Online, I was able to see for the first time queer and trans people living authentically as themselves, as parents, artists, even leaders. I was able to learn through these creators and content about my own identity. Non-binary, transmasc, you're not born knowing these words. I truly think my transition would have been delayed decades without this window into self understanding which prevented years of isolation and self-loathing. These spaces gave me the opportunity to envision a future for myself where I could live fully and surrounded by love.

These exampled Examples emboldened me not just to come out, but to know that I deserved better from those around me. That I am as deserving of love and care as anyone, not just in spite of my transness, but because of it. and this love has led me to fight for the rights of our community now as an adult. In Boston, I'm a co-founder for an organization called Protect Trans Futures. We are organizing for the right to health care for all trans people. We are currently campaigning for Fenway Health to restore gender affirming care to all of their patients after they decided to bow to the Trump administration and end gender affirming care for minors and 18 year olds. Fenway's original communication about their decision was through patient portals, hidden and minimized. Our first question was, how do we bring this to the attention of not just the people directly impacted, like families of trans youth in Boston? but our larger community and our allies.

We know that the Trump administration isn't just looking to strip young trans people of care. They want to dismantle access to gender-affirming care for all trans people and gut HIV AIDS prevention and treatment. We need a large coalition to fight back against this first step of this agenda in Boston, or one of the first steps. We need young trans people. We need queer elders. We need our healthcare providers. We need your aunt who loves going to pride marches. We need your neighbor who might not understand what HRT is, but sure knows he doesn't like what Trump is doing. So one of our first steps of connecting with this community was establishing an online presence on Instagram and then later threads and Facebook. We have been able to access thousands of people, 80,000 views in one month. across the city, state, and country because of the reach that Instagram provides us. This support has enabled us to plan community events like art builds and protests, share resources with those affected,

and connect with organizations who share our values and are already doing critical work for our community within Boston. If this content was regulated and inaccessible, we would not be able to work together as a community to take care of each other.

OK, thank you very much. Because we have three panels, I'm going to ask my colleagues if they have maybe two questions. We'll go around. And if we have some more follow-up, we'll go to that. So I'm just going to, in order of arrival, I believe Councilor Durkan, because you already read the statement, you go last in this round. So just a quick round of questions for are wonderful advocates here. And if we have more, we may do a second round on this panel.

Thank you so much, Chair, and really appreciate all of your testimony. I think the work that so many do to make sure that and many more. I think it's important that our youth and our neighborhoods get the resources that they deserve. Rural Georgia. I grew up in a place where access to certain things that we have in Boston weren't possible when I was younger. And so I'm really, really grateful to have gotten the chance to have learned about so many different communities through this work but also just as a friend of many people who have experienced a really hard time um you know because there are obviously a lot of barriers so um Obviously, one of my priorities on the Boston City Council is mental health.

So I just wanted to ask, I appreciated your testimony about what it meant to have I felt like you had missed years of repressing who you are. So I just wanted to ask what you think the city of Boston can do in this moment. and what you think particularly we can do in sort of the online space to ensure that folks have access to the resources they need to be truly affirmed in who they are.

I think it's important that y'all are moving against censorship of These resources for young people that we aren't using the lie of keeping young people safe as a way of keeping them away from their communities and information like healthcare and housing.

Well, you know, I grew up in the AIM phase of the Internet. So it's, you know, I remember, like, you know, my tag name was Purple Glitter Girl. I remember being able to talk to people from around the world as a kid. Obviously, that has its dangers. Parents, and everyone should be aware of the dangers of the internet, but it opened your eyes when you live in a small town and you only know the people in your small town. It opens your eyes to other topics and people and so I'm really I obviously I'm really dedicated towards lack of censorship obviously I just want to speak to the Fenway Health I think Fenway Health is in District 8. I value their work.

So I just was recently speaking yesterday at Northeastern to their Student Government Association. and I think a lot of institutions in our society are having to choose between funding and their core mission and that is a shame and I think I guess for me I have been dealing with on every single level with all the institutions and healthcare institutions and academic institutions in my district and they're all choosing sort of different Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I just feel like we're all right now a lot of these institutions are just trying to stay above water so it's hard as a public official to take a stand and you know and to Fight back against some of the things being stripped off websites. But I just want to say that I have spoken to Fenway Health. I know that their mission remains intact and I know that the City of Boston is better with them being open, but I understand why from an advocacy perspective everyone feels the need to come at something that is so incredibly important so I just wanted to say my piece on that because I really am um

Having had so many friends who have needed to go through that process of transition, I just want to stand by youth having access to those opportunities and that lifesaving health care. Flynn, while also threading the needle of wanting to support an institution that I want to still be standing. I know Councilor Flynn knows this, Fenway Health location that was in his district has now closed. So we're really trying to, at least for me in terms of what I'm saying, Publicly, I want to make sure that I'm supporting them in their mission because that mission is so incredibly important. And if we didn't have Fenway Health existing in the city of Boston, we would be a worse city. and we would have less access to trans-affirming healthcare.

But in that gap, I think the city needs to step forward to say how we can support the youth that are seeking that treatment, that life-saving affirming treatment.

Can I respond to that?

Yeah, just one second. So we've been joined by Barry Andres, youth leader from Protect Trans Futures. We've also been joined by Ed Flynn, Brian Worrell, and Gabriella Coletta Zapata. And then we're going to move on to other councillors for which you can... Yes, so go ahead, Teddy, you're up.

Well, as two people from the South, I think it's really striking how... We have a tendency in the north that when things like this happen, Fenway Health closing down access to care for minors and 18-year-olds, we have a tendency to say, they're giving in to the attack. They're aiding with the Trump administration, aiding and abetting. And when that happens in our own city, we say, tough decision, tough break. It suddenly becomes a lot more complicated when it's in our own community. And so I'd like to see the Boston City Council take that same stance that they take and our politicians take when seeing these things happen nationally as they do in our own cities, even when it's hard. when it's our own institutions that we've been supporting for a long time because Fenway Health's mission, as you mentioned, is healthcare for all and there's no for all without trans youth and also 18 year olds, which are legal adults.

So if they're willing to give in on 18 year olds, no trans adult is safe getting healthcare from Fenway. And so I too want Fenway to stay open. but they have received millions of dollars in grants for the purpose of expanding gender affirming care. They have their executives get and I'm asking, can they not find creative and brave solutions with their partners in city hall, with their partners in the state to be able to provide keep their doors open and stay true to their mission. I've also learned Protect Trans Futures is partnered with ACT UP Boston. In my opinion, the thing that they aren't saying out loud is, We're cutting gender-affirming care to protect low-income people with HIV AIDS.

But what I'm hearing from Boston's Health Care for the Homeless and ACT UP Boston is that Fenway Health has been cutting programs for people who are experiencing HIV AIDS, low-income people who are experiencing HIV AIDS for the last 10 years. So at what point do they decide who they are truly serving?

And yeah, I just want to, if I can finish, I just want to thank you for your advocacy. And I definitely think... You know, because all my colleagues are here and I know they have a lot of questions, but I do want to commit to having a conversation with you offline about this. But I also think it's important that I am not, you know, in The budget of a health care institution, I'm not in the Excel spreadsheet, but having talked to some of the leadership there, there are a lot of difficult decisions being made, and for me, I truly know that there are constituents of mine that will not be served if NY Health doesn't continue to stay open. And we have had one hospital close this year where I think we all stepped forward. Fitzgerald, in his district.

And I just—I know that access to health care is becoming sort of the biggest divide between parties right now. And I just want to say that— I understand where you're coming from, and I understand where this advocacy is coming from. And I'm dedicated to making sure that those that need to access transfer main care can do so in the city of Boston. I think we need to just figure out where that's going to come from because the line item that that grant represents in their budget is one that they will not continue to be open. If they don't meet the requirements of that grant. The grant that we're talking about is completely contingent upon meeting all of the requirements Those requirements. And I don't take that lightly because I have a lot of friends who have needed that before 18. And so it makes me emotional to think that people would not have access.

I think it's particularly for sex workers, for folks that are I don't know anyone doing the type of work that Fenway Health is doing in my district. And so if they don't continue to be open, there will be a lot of people that are not served. But thank you so much, Teddy.

Okay, thank you, Councillor Durkan. So I think the idea for this first round would be a quick exchange, because we do have three panels, I clearly failed to deliver that in the first round. So I'm gonna have to, we're gonna go two minutes on each person to, you know, and if we have any follow-ups, we can. But Barry, so... Everyone read a statement. If you feel free just to pass on this, but if you have something you'd like to read to us relatively brief, but just The floor is yours.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Sorry about my delay. As a queer kid growing up, specifically growing up within Catholic institutions, going through, living here in the North in an area that is so open to change and diversity and such, Growing up and having access to the communities that exist online that specifically this bill targets was a vital aspect of not just finding the person that I am, Understanding it. And without those elements of the internet that we're discussing today, it's not just about

Learning things about ourselves but understanding and connecting to others that replicate those things and allow us to see the greater world beyond us in those ways.

Okay, thank you very much. I'm sorry, I'm trying to... I think, Councilor Worrell, you are up next. I'm going to just turn the timer on. So we're going to go two minutes. If there are any follow-ups. I realize it's short, but we've got three panels. We're just going to try to. Get to everyone. So you're out.

In the essence of time, I'll be quick. Thank you, Chair. And thank you to the panelists for being here and standing up to The attack that we all are facing from this federal administration. I also want to thank my colleagues and also to the sponsor for bringing this forward. I know I have a prepared statement. I know this comes at a crucial time as there's almost 600 bills being proposed across the country attacking the rights and humanity of our LGBTQ plus residents. as well as the fact that data show that the population of LGBTQ plus youth in our state continue to grow year after year. In light of the federal threats on which this hearing is centered, I'm eager to focus on and I think some of my colleagues already accessed, boosting the resources, spaces and protections

We need to make sure the stand we take against such oppressions are not in name or in resolution only and I you know something that you said earlier is I think this time We should not be wavering on our values. Sometimes we have to look inward and get creative to making sure that those supports and people in our community are protected at all costs. Right. And sometimes that means sacrificing. And I think that that is what really creates movement. And then also Let everyone else know that we are in this fight with them. So I'm here. I'm going to continue to listen and learn and see how I can be supportive. Thank you, Chair. And I just want to again just thank you for your courage and your bravery. Thank you. Okay, thank you very much.

Councilor Flynn, you're up.

And thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to you, Mr. Chair, and to Councilor Santana and others for the important work that you are doing. I also want to acknowledge the panel for the important work they are doing as well. Over the last eight years, I've worked on this issue closely. to try to support our LGBTQ youth, and in particular, working with the Boston Children's Hospital. If you may recall, there was a lot of bomb threats and I worked closely with the Boston Police on this issue and spoke out many times about it. I think what they were trying to do was impact access for trans youth to get the health care that they needed and deserved.

And actually met with the president of the hospital a couple of times. And Councilor Durkan is right. The Fenway Community Health Center plays a critical role In our city, and I was proud to represent that area at one time. And it is correct that Fenway was in my neighborhood, in my district, brother. And I had a wonderful relationship with them, with the south end. Community Health Center, which is now part of East Boston, but I do know the South End Health Center did a lot of work as well. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of people. I've recognized people. In the back, I was at the Fenway Community Health Center a couple weeks ago. It was a Saturday morning, early Saturday morning, just to show my support and respect for the young people. to let them know that I was standing with them during these difficult times.

And I'll continue to advocate and support civil rights, human rights for our LGBT youth. as long as I'm a member of the City Council. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Councillor Flynn.

Councillor Coletta Zapata?

Thank you, Chair. And I want to thank the makers for this docket. Thank you for everything you do in this space. I want to thank all of you for your work. I just came from a Planned Parenthood rally outside of the Moakley Courthouse where they are actively suing the Trump administration for defunding Planned Parenthood, and what it means to get vital federal funds taken away and what that means for the gender-affirming care that they provide in such a loving way. Right now, there are, as we know, divisive attacks. And I just want to thank you all so much for your courage and your bravery. Um, stepping into your power, living your authentic self and living your authentic lives and the work that you do in a time like now. where we honestly don't know what safety will look like any given day. So I want to thank you.

The COSA and Screen Act and also learning about the App Store Accountability Act is just cruel. and I'm still learning more about it, but understanding that it limits access to resources for queer and trans youth Can you talk about how this might impact your individual organizations and the resources that you provide? Just trying to understand the impact locally here and what resources would be barred from access for our queer and trans youth here in Boston.

I know that if things were to be censored for my organization specifically, A lot of people would lose access to gender affirming, especially clothing items, things Like binders and that just help people feel more confident in themselves and in their gender identity. It will definitely be impacted and a lot of people will have access to it.

Anyone else? With Bagley, not only do we provide gender-affirming clothes, we have shoes, we have toiletries. We have direct therapy services where you can meet with our licensed clinical social worker on Wednesdays. And we also provide direct aid. We call it our radical aid program where we gave out $70,000 in the past year. The main way when I talk to youth and in my own understanding of Bagley that people find us through Instagram or we can direct to our website where we have those more information on that but that's how we're giving most of our information and if we have the censorship on what we can share online many people won't find out about us especially folks coming from out of states

We're really well connected within the Boston community and MAPS students are really grateful for that, but especially for bringing folks in who are seeking our sanctuary city. It will really impact the amount of people that we can help and makes me really sad and nervous for the state of trans youth.

Regarding Protect Trans Futures, as my fellow panelists said, social media as the primary way that people connect to these resources, regardless of if it's queer resources, homeless resources, so on and so forth. Within our organization specifically, This is how we build community. This is how we inform people of meetings, of where to show up, of the most accessible way for them to attend something, of how to share links. Social media sites are... pillars of information for various communities, not just ours.

Thank you. And I will just add, I know my time is up, understanding that there's potentially requirements to upload government identification or submit biometric data. It's just insanity to me and I can't believe we are here in this country at this point and understanding that our immigrant brothers and sisters are getting kidnapped at their biometrics appointments is terrifying and so I have a lot of questions maybe for the administration around data privacy and security so But thank you so much for the work that you do and just want to give kudos to you all for being here.

Thank you Okay, thank you very much Councillor Santana

Thank you, Chair Weber. I don't have questions for this panel. This hearing order was written in partnership with you all and with you all in mind. I really appreciate you all being here as your individual selves, but also representing some amazing organizations that I partner with and many of my colleagues do. You know, I think we just heard it directly from you all. You know, censoring this will, I mean, we heard it from you all. I mean, it saves lives, right? The information, the community. Housing, Food, Stability, all right so it's extremely important for us to continue to fight for this and I really again just really want to thank you all just for being here. It's very scary times right now.

So I know that you are not just representing yourselves and the organizations that you're affiliated with, but also representing many people who can't be here on their own behalf. So I just really appreciate your Your courage and being here with us today. No questions because I'm a full supporter of all of this and I really appreciate you all sharing your stories.

Okay, thank you very much. We've been joined by Councillor Julie Mejia. So we have three panels. We put our youth advocate panel up front. We've heard from them. We're just doing a quick round. If you want two minutes to speak, ask questions. You'll take advantage of it. So we did quick two minutes with everyone, and then we have two more panels to go after this.

Thank you, Chair. I appreciate the opportunity to speak for two minutes. But the good thing is that I'm no stranger to this conversation, so I really don't need to utilize my two minutes because I know what my marching orders are. I've been a longtime advocate and a fierce voice in this space, so just want to thank you all for your leadership and the way that you show up. and we were one of the officers that met with Fenway when we heard about the gender affirming care. We met with the CEO. We talked about how we can be supportive. We did all of that dual diligence and so For us, we're here for the conversation and to take our marching orders from those that we serve. So I'm not going to occupy space for the sake of it. I just want to thank you all for your leadership and showing up the way that you always do and letting us know what we need to do So thank you. Our office is also working on establishing a commission for trans LGBTQ plus IA communities.

And so we hope that through that work we can strengthen and put some teeth behind the rhetoric in terms of how we're gonna stand up and support our communities. So looking forward to making that happen, thank you.

Okay, thank you, Councilor Mejia. We've also been joined by Councilor Enrique Pepen, So we have three panels. Our youth advocate panel went first. And we're just doing a quick round, two minutes, if you want to say anything or ask questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to Councillor Santana for being a sponsor and a steadfast leader in this topic. I think that now more than ever, I feel like we're constantly getting attacked down from Washington, D.C., and telling us, telling people, What they can and cannot do. I'm late to this hearing because I was in a meeting with the Disability Commission. of making sure that they were also being rightfully represented in a different conversation. So for me to be able to be here and be able to learn about what we need to do in the city of Boston to be able to make sure everyone feels heard and represented, I'm very much invested in this conversation. So thank you for the work you do. I'm very excited to hear what you have to say. So thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. I just, I don't have questions. I think, you know, when I I've heard, I live in Jamaica Plain, I've heard from several folks about concerns about Fenway and I think we try to work with them and try to make sure people get the care they need. I will say, you're younger than me, I feel old, but Fenway was a place that was like a leader. I went there when I was in college for HIV testing, and back then it was, In the late 80s, early 90s, it wasn't a popular thing to do, and you had to sort of resist a lot of pressure to provide those kinds of services.

And so to hear that things have changed, and I kind of wish we could see the same spirit in them providing services today. Thanks for bringing that up and I think that'll be part of a broader conversation. So I want to thank all of you for coming today. I'm going to dismiss you and we're going to hear from the administration panel next. Again, thank you for everything you're doing in Boston and making our city a place that that everyone here wants the city to be and hope to see you back here soon. Okay, administration panel next.

We have Samara, yeah, I see you, Julianne, okay, and Santee. Okay, yeah, three folks.

Then you'll go first. Next time.

You know, Shane, do you want to explain the rules of the clicker?

Yes. Yeah.

So we're going to that instead of the clicker. It's like a magic trick. So, okay, we're joined now by Santi Garces, the Chief Information Officer from the Department of Innovation Technology, Samara Grossman, Director for the Center of Behavioral Health and Wellness, with the Boston Public Health Commission, and Julianne Lee, who's the Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of LGBTQIA2S Plus Advancement. So I don't know if you've worked it out. I know there's a presentation. It's totally up to you how to proceed.

Thank you so much, Councilor. So I think that I will kick off things and then pass it on to my co-presenter. So I'm Santiago Garces. I am the Chief Information Officer for the City of Boston, and it is a great privilege to be here with the Council. and with the folks that showed up to the meeting today. So I'm mostly going to skip over most of the slides because I know that we're short on time. But I wanted to highlight a couple of things. So the first piece is, at the city, we're committed to make sure that every Bostonian has access to the resources to be connected with the information and the resources that they find helpful. Digital equity is a complicated issue because it requires people to be able to have high quality, affordable internet connectivity. Access to the right device, access to content that is helpful, and then also having access to the information and skills that allow you to access those resources.

Our team, particularly our digital equity team, spends a lot of time making sure that every Bostonian has access to these resources. So the slides will mostly talk about the work that we're doing. Given the content of the hearing, I just wanted to put some things forth. The first one is federal, the telecommunications and regulation of platforms that manage content is a matter of interstate commerce. It is a matter that is regulated usually by the federal government. To some extent, the states have some matter to say, but usually the city would not be in a position to regulate these matters. But that being said, we think that legislation and regulation, whether it's being said by the United States Congress or by the Federal Communications Commission, benefits when we have all voices being able to participate. So if nothing else, I hope that the resources and the information that we're gonna share

Thank you. Thank you. This is one of the many benefits of being connected. So next slide. Next slide. This past year we conducted a digital equity survey which allowed us to understand and measure impacts around digital equity across a number of different dimensions. and it allowed us to focus in and zoom in into communities of particular interest including the LGBTQIA plus community So the good thing is that the results are on the website, and you can see both in terms of affordability, in terms of devices, in terms of connectivity, where are the gaps in Boston. And we know that a lot of these issues are multifaceted.

So maybe going to the next slide. So key findings is that we know that in Boston there's two things that are true and slightly contradictory. Boston is a place where we have a lot of resources and most people are able to have Thank you very much. Most importantly, again, we know that the digital equity gaps exist around people that live in public housing or that are low income and need benefits and government assistance. which makes sense they're struggling with affordability. People that were incarcerated

Veterans, and in some cases non-English speakers and people of Latin descent, for instance, report a higher incidence of not being familiar with, not feeling safe and comfortable with certain digital skills. So one of the things that we find through the survey, for instance, is that LGBTQI plus community members use our free Wi-Fi resources 5% more than the average Bostonian, which is interesting. It's going and showing that the resources that we're investing have an impact. So next slide. Next slide. So this is broadly, again, I'm gonna just pass over most of the slides, but we are working at the city and as part of our digital equity plan on systematically tackling those gaps and again we have a commitment both whenever we're providing a resource that enables people to stay connected or we're providing

We're committed to make sure that people have access to the information that is useful for them, information that they need, and in a way that is timely and accurate. So next slide. You could go and see all the pillars of the work that we're doing. Keep going. Next slide. Again, there's a couple of things just to highlight. When it comes to digital equity, we're focusing on a lot of work in partnership with the Boston Housing Authority and with the state, with the Mass Broadband Institute, and improving the access of affordable, hopefully even free, internet access to Boston Housing Authority residents. It's a big barrier for people that some of which have disabilities or are elderly and have a hard time even establishing service.

So being able to make sure that they have access to reliable internet for some of the people that are the most Thank you. Thank you. and then digital navigation as a mechanism to enable access to people that have skills to be able to train and support people that are going through accessing resources. So most of the time people might struggle not only using a device, but actually doing something specific, like filing taxes or getting access to healthcare. Next slide. So again, we're working on these digital navigation efforts and bringing training and resources to the places and the communities where people are both

The Housing Authority at BCYF and in other places in partnership with a lot of the people that are here with me, the Public Health Commission and our Equity Cabinet. Next slide. Again, one of the key things that we're doing is that we know that constituents are using Boston Family Youth Center and some other public resources as like the main place. If you don't have a device or you have a hard time affording and many more. Thank you. and Commissioner Marta Rivera and with Chief of MSO. Hopefully we have some good things to announce there. But again, public resources are often a key part of how people are accessing information and we are working to make sure that the people

are using our city facilities, have a great experience, a safe experience. And we're making progress on that. And then next slide. So Wicked Free Wi-Fi is one interesting area. So this is our... No-cause tool that allows people to be able to connect online. Based on our survey and from research and from other pieces of research, we know that a lot of times people might have like a cell phone or might have and many more. We mostly filter out pieces that are dangerous or illegal, but for the most part it's widely available. Go to the next slide.

So we've been working on expanding the footprint of Wicked Free Wi-Fi, particularly concentrating in areas, and this is work that we did in partnership with Equity where they helped us identify focus areas where there's high concentrations of constituents that had gaps, had limited access to data plans. So we focus on hubs, transit hubs, people that might be waiting for the train or for the bus. So next slide. So we've been... of Exciting News. We've expanded the access to Wicked Free Wi-Fi in Nubian Square, Mattapan Square, Eggleston Square, Maverick, Malcolm X Park, Hyde Park, and Tobin. And just so you... To get a sense of the magnitude, we have about 39,000 people that are using free Wi-Fi every month, unique users that are using free Wi-Fi every month. In Maverick,

Close to where I live, we have about 2,500 people that are accessing free Wi-Fi every month. Newby and Square, I think, is close to 5,000 people. These are resources that are really, really impactful. And even just the new sites that we've been able to commission with the help of the council and the state, there's about 10,000 new people being able to use free Wi-Fi. Next slide. As you can see, the access points, they're physical pieces of infrastructure that we collocated. Next slide. This is a map of where we have free Wi-Fi, including the sites that we've expanded to. Next slide. So again, one of the key areas, not only having access to internet is important, but having access to the right device. So thanks to the council's action, we have been able to start refurbishing the city's computers so we

Typically, our standard is to keep the laptops and PCs for four years when they're under the best support. But those computers still have useful life. We've been working with partners to refurbish those devices and get them in the hands of those who are most in need. The Council took some action that enabled us to do this. I think last month was the first order where we were able to take devices that used to be part of the city and make sure the devices get wiped and cleaned to make sure that there's no city data In them but they have a second life with people that really need those devices. Next slide. We work with partners mostly identified by other teams that we work with at the City of the Equity Cabinet, at the Health and Human Services Cabinet, and this past year we've Thank you.

Thank you. I got this wrong. I think nine of our partners are organizations that work with LGBTQIA plus individuals. We also have organizations that are working with youth specifically and whatnot. I believe that we have another round of the Digital Equity Fund that will be going live. So just encourage the people that are in the room to participate in it. And this is our way of making sure that these complex math of making sure that the connectivity device and skills are all getting to the right people at the right time in the right context. So we're always looking for partners there. Next slide. So I think that just going in and seeing some additional information on our digital equity fund recipients. Next slide. And then again,

Very proud of being able to celebrate with the Council and with others the work that we do. Next slide. So there's some testimonies from people that have benefited from our work. Next slide. We got to the end of the presentation, so I'll turn it over to our friends from the Public Health Commission.

Thank you so much. Thank you, Chair Weber and Councilor Santana, for convening this. Thank you to the youth who spoke earlier. That was very moving. Let's see. Pull up. Next slide, I guess. Next slide. So I'm Samara Grossman, Director of the Center for Behavioral Health and Wellness. Just to quickly read out the mission of the Boston Public Health Commission, we're here to work in partnership with communities to protect and promote the health and well-being of all Boston residents. especially those impacted by racism and systemic inequities. Next slide. I'm joined here today by my lovely team who are here in the room. Program Manager Crystal Abbott and Project Assistant Awa Yusremusa. So very glad to have them with us. Next slide. So I just wanted to give a little bit of background, and that will be my role today, is to help us understand who are here in Boston and Massachusetts.

So from the reports that you can see on the slide, you can see that Massachusetts, of course, as we know, has a large A body of LGBTQIA2 spirit plus people and youth especially. And here in Boston, there's a high concentration. We're especially proud to have that many individuals here in Boston. We'd like to be able to speak to their needs today. Thank you. So in terms of some background data, just to kind of briefly give a sense of how LGBTQ plus youth are doing, from the recent community health needs assessment, we were able to understand from data that LGBTQIA2 plus youth are experiencing higher rates than others as you can see in the data graph. Thank you. Thank you. When there's intersectional identities being impacted, it's all the more acute.

So I just wanted to bring alive, as you were speaking, really thinking about it isn't... It isn't just LGBTQIA youth in general. There are intersectional identities that layer on oppression That really need to be attended to both by access to data but is also thinking about what the youth spoke about about coming from the south but even here in Boston inside our own communities there's layers of difficulty accessing or being able to get resources. So I thought that'd be important to point out. Next slide. So really important is this Health of Boston Mental Health Report that I'm very proud that BPHC put out last year. Encourage people to look at it if they want to understand Youth and Adult in a Deeper Dive as to Mental Health. But I'm really sorry to report that that purple column is LGBTQ youth. They're doing by far the worst in all the domains that look at acuity or how intense mental health needs are. So I'll just kind of read out these.

Felt sad or hopeless for two plus weeks, which is what we highlighted on the slide before. purposely hurt themselves, considered suicide, planned suicide, attempted suicide, and treated by a doctor following a suicide attempt. all highest for LGBTQ youth. So if it wasn't already abundantly clear to you how important it is to keep access and resource open online, this should make it abundantly clear. Next slide. So in general, it's important to understand just the LGBTQ youth, and sadly I can't see these slides as well as I'd like to, but LGBTQ youth. are struggling and the need for equity is ever stronger in this equity report. We can see that there's a real understanding of intersectional identity needs, need for being able to access resource hubs, and Anique to be able to come together and feel a sense of belonging. So I just wanted to highlight that report that was also put out last year by Boston Public Health Commission.

looking especially at equity in LGBTQ communities. Next slide. So I thought it'd be really important to share some findings from the Trevor Project. So you can see the graph in the middle. Just really important to know that they did the research on this topic, so I'd highlight to everyone who's more interested the entire suite of their findings. But generally, I think you can see from the key findings that Being able to access online resources is is literally what is needed. It is lifesaving, as we've talked about. And for communities that have less access, even including those inside Boston, or less access to feeling a sense of belonging, even inside their own schools, I guess to state that I am a parent of a queer youth who attended Boston Public Schools and I know the difficulties persist in terms of a sense of belonging. and even at times a sense of being bullied for one's identity. So it's still unfortunately alive and real.

Things that I thought would have gone by in my day are still here. So the ability to access an online resource as the Trevor Project shows is very important and is crucial to feeling a sense of belonging even if you can't get it in your day-to-day life in school or even at home. Next slide. So I'm very happy to talk about some of the ways that BPHC supports LGBTQ plus youth, which is that we are able to work with HRIA, which is a vendor who is helping us bring We are also open to adult youth workers, so this is open to all community-based organizations in Boston who are serving youth and within that 101 training that they're meant to train back, so it's a train the trainer, they are being

taught exactly how LGBTQ youth mental health works, what language they might need to transition to using, how to make a welcoming space, and generally what signs and symptoms to look for in youth who might be experiencing Mental Health Issues. So we're very happy that this work is happening because it expands the reach of mental health services beyond just clinical care out to people in the community who work with youth day in and day out. Next slide. And then when the mental health report came out last year, it was not hard for me to see the urgency of that purple column. So we were able to happily shift Quickly shift some ARPA funds over internally Capacity Building and Training Institute, which also does capacity building work. So they worked with the HRA graduates of that Train the Trainer program, those CBOs across Boston, to do a deep dive on LGBTQ youth needs. So we're very happy that that has happened. You can see some of the... Thank you.

Thank you. Needs, including LGBTQIA plus youth of color, what their specific needs might be. And finally, next slide. I just want to let you know, again, in response to current needs and current socio-political shifts, the center has put out and LGBTQ plus mental health resource sheets. So this QR code scans and brings you to all these resources that you see in the bulleted points. So really trying to help support community so they do know what's out there when they are able to access online resources. Resources. They know what to access and it's not just hunting around on the internet for hours. Finally, next slide. Thank you. Thank you, Julia.

I'm not sure if this has ever been done before, but we just talked about a lot of heavy things and going to continue to do so, especially with our next panel. So just inviting everyone to take a breath and to stretch in any way that feels best for your bodies. I was seeing a couple of our faces from our community members, so just wanted to offer that. Good afternoon, counselors, and thank you for holding this important session today on ensuring that our folks in Boston's LGBTQIA2S plus community are able to retain access to vital online resources, even when we are facing opposition and censorship for our very lives. My name is Julianne Lee, and my pronouns are she and they. and I serve as the Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of LGBTQIA2S Plus Advancement, or as our community lovingly calls it, MOLA. I'm so glad that today's space provides advocates and community organizations a platform

to educate, share your experiences, and speak to this critical topic. I'm also grateful to the many community partners of MOLA that are here with us today, actually too many to name. who you have already or will hear from. I actually just want to use my few minutes of our time at our office to highlight a couple of online resources that I just want simply our youth here today and those community members watching from home who might not have felt safe to join us. To be aware of them and to learn more about. Next slide. You'll see our small but mighty team of myself and four of our staff, a few of which are here today. And I thank you and see you both. and a few are working virtually while out in the community today. Thank you so much for doing all the work that you do. Next slide. In short, our mission is to improve outcomes, remove systematic barriers for our LGBTQIA2S plus residents of Boston.

We are working to ensure that Boston remains a city where every single one of us has access to the resources, safety, and belonging that they deserve. Through collaboration with city departments, community engagement, and policy development, we strive to make city services more accessible and responsive to the needs of our LGBTQIA2S plus individuals and family. On the next slide, you'll see that we do this by developing inclusive policies in partnership with city departments, city council, and community organizations. Community Centered Programming that uplifts joy, safety, belonging, and providing resources and funding like our Beyond Pride Grants, Gender Affirming Assistance Grants, and our digitally accessible resource pages that you will hear about shortly. And on our next slide, you can see The three main resources I want to share with you all in this space, our organizations, our community partners, and those listening at home,

We have a guidebook right on boston.gov slash LGBTQ. This guidebook is on navigating discrimination. It's in partnership with Northeastern University, and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. This resource will go right now, helps residents understand your rights and how to seek help. Second one is our LGBTQI2S Plus Resource Hub. This is the first ever centralized digital space for connecting our residents to housing support, affirming health care, mental wellness services, and community organizations. And lastly, our Pride 365 calendar. Anyone who's part of this community as well as our allies in this room and on this council know that Pride is 365. This is an ever-growing online community calendar showcasing events, support spaces, and learning opportunities throughout the year.

These resources are usually a first touch, first point of contact, sometimes a lifeline, For our residents seeking community or safety as you've heard from our youth today. Our next slide. Just wanted to highlight that we see these truths every single day. That online access is public health. It is safety. It is community care. As you've heard from our panelists today and those that will follow, these can mean the difference between light and darkness, literally between life and death. As Samara underscored with data points, we know that our LGBTQIA2S plus youth who feel connected to an affirming online community are 45% Less likely to attempt suicide. Just want to say that one more time. 45% less likely.

71% of our LGBTQIA2S plus youth, particularly our BIPOC youth, say that online spaces provide crucial mental health supports that they cannot find always in person. As an office, MOLA, we stand ready to collaborate with city partners, city council, to ensure Boston continues to protect online freedoms, digital privacy, access to affirming resources for all of our residents. These are not just online resources. We know in the community, specifically those of us part of the trans non-binary community, that these are sometimes pathways to survival, belonging, and Hope. Thank you so much for the commitment to ensuring our communities, especially our LGBTQIA2S plus trans non-binary youth, remain connected, informed, and to be honest, seen.

Okay, thank you very much. So for this panel, we're going to go with five minutes. If we need a second round, we'll do that. Just for folks here listening at home, the Mayor's Office of LGBTQIA2S Plus Advancement may be referred to as MOLA. Department of Innovation Technology may be referred to as DOIT. I think Boston Public Health Commission defies that kind of, you know, easy, I don't know how you pronounce that acronym, but... BPHC, usually. BPHC, well, that, you know, but... So just as a guide, if you hear those terms. Councilor Santana, you have five minutes.

Thank you, Chair Weber, and thank you for the administration for being here and all the work that you all do. I do have I think three questions, and I think they're probably all going to be for Chief. So, Chief, you talked about the city's free Wi-Fi. First of all, I mean, Is the Wi-Fi that we use here at City Hall the same Wi-Fi of the other locations that you mentioned?

So we kind of would be the answer. So we have... Wicked Free Wi-Fi in most of the public buildings that our department operates. So we usually broadcast a private network. which is the encrypted network for employee usage and we also broadcast Wicked Free Wi-Fi in our buildings and then we also have this Wicked Free Wi-Fi access points that are outside in again in The bus stations and some community spaces. So it all ends up going and handled by our optical network called Bonet. So kind of, yes.

No, and then I guess my question to that is, does, are you able, are you able to, is there a record of like websites and apps that people are using? So, you know, I'm on the, I'm on the, Wicked Free Wi-Fi right now. Do you all collect that data? And if so, can that data be requested or demanded by the federal administration or any law enforcement?

So we don't, and I will want to check with our team before I give you information that is not accurate, but from what I know, we generally don't track like individual Thank you for joining us. This is what allows us to track how many users we have, how many people have logged in, how much bandwidth we have done, but we don't track individually. Henry was accessing these websites. That's not the level of information that we usually track.

But you do have, and then to your point in terms of the federal administration or law enforcement being able to ask for that data.

So any record that the city has won, it is subject to public records laws. And it is also, if a law enforcement agency had a subpoena from a judge, we would produce those. Generally speaking, we don't collect information from what I know, and I'll check with the team just to make sure that that's correct. We collect information about individual users, individual sessions, and we generally don't share unless we would be required to share. Of the aggregate data, we make it publicly available because it's just helpful to know from a public trust perspective, like are these resources actually being used and are they, yeah.

Okay, well, thank you. And I'll definitely like to follow up on that to your students. get that answer there. Are there any Websites or apps or specifically like dating apps or anything that the city blocks access to through the wicked free Wi-Fi.

For our employee network, we block, we restrict the amount of time that an employee can spend on things that are usually not related to work. On the Wicked Free Wi-Fi piece, we use the minimum amount of filtering. So we have a web filtering system that allows us to restrict Malicious and illegal activities of people mining Bitcoin and using the city's free Wi-Fi for the kind of We generally put the least restrictive permissions. People are able to access social media resources and a number of different resources. through the website, but there's through the Wicked for Wi-Fi. And we also host the websites for MOLA and BPHC on boston.gov.

Great. And then my last question is for you, Chief. You know, how does DO-IT collaborate with our Boston queer community organizations to specifically conduct LGBTQIA2S+, Community Needs Assessment Surveys, specifically when it comes to technology.

Yeah, so this is where the value of the partnership of our approach with the Digital Equity Fund We work by putting these competitive solicitations and then having community organizations that serve different groups come and tell us what are the needs. So in some There's a need for devices and other places there's a need for affordable connectivity and we let the community organizations that actually have the relationships with the individuals tell us what is needed and then we Work together on the proposals and then that also helps us then inform our strategy around knowing where there's like structural gaps that we could solve some way or another.

Well, thank you, Chief. Thank you for the administration for being here. Thank you, Chair Weber. Okay, thank you, Councilor Flynn.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the administration panel that is here. I know the conversation at the beginning was, some of it was focused on the issue relating to Fenway Health. But if Fenway Health is reducing any type of services, To young people, is the city working with any medical facility to provide that care that is not being provided at Fenway Health?

The BPHC is not currently that I'm aware of working with any particular medical facility. but we are working currently to come together across our bureaus and departments to be able to highlight what services we are providing currently and in the future to the community. That's a newer initiative so that we're able to Thank you. I was just wondering maybe

Was there any type of partnership with the Children's Hospital at all, or is there any way that the South End or the East Boston Community Health Center, I should say, is filling that gap that Fenway is not filling.

I'll be happy to get back to you with that information.

Do you know if anyone has reached out to East Boston Health Care Center?

I am not aware of that at this time, but very happy to get back to you with that information. The center is not currently. We haven't as of yet had ties, deep ties to any particular medical facility. We do work with the community health centers. And I do hope that over time, Maybe we could partner with Mola or others to really come together and figure out how we can solve that service gap more fully and talk to Children's Hospital as well, see what they're currently planning or might be planning to do. So thank you.

Thank you. Besides the medical support that Fenway is not able to provide, are there any social services or any type of counseling services that Fenway is not providing that The city is able to provide or to step in and provide resources.

I'd love to jump in just to talk about a couple of resources that are a supplement, and then maybe Samara can talk about the more mental health-specific assists. So we know that access to legal and emergency grant support Emergency support is a critical component to public health and safety. And so just wanted to highlight that at MOLA we have our gender affirming identity document and Assistance Grant Support Program, and it basically helps residents secure the documentation that they need to access healthcare, housing, employment, and other essential services, but specifically that healthcare piece. basically by addressing the immediate barriers which can be identification as well as reducing the exposure to discrimination which will

While they have that correct identification document, they would also be able to tap into mental health providers and promote basically overall well-being. and this work directly sort of aligns with our mission to really create more equitable, inclusive, safe outcomes for our LGBT plus residents.

In terms of increasing access to mental health services, some of the ARPA funds that were Granted to the Center currently going towards Franciscan Children's, which is increasing year by year the amount and actually up to Tier 3 level of mental health care. directly in high need BPS schools as identified by BPS leaders. So within those high need schools, I'm sure that there's LGBTQ youth who are accessing those resources, as well as the school-based behavioral health centers that are run by both BPHC and others where there's direct access to be able to get services like mental health services in your school which I think is a great benefit because then youth who they still need parental permission but youth are able to kind of get what they need in a private setting like their own school setting. As well, some of those resources that you saw me mention are ways that we're continually trying to get word out to the community How to access mental health resources because it's complicated.

Finally, it's worth noting it's hard to find mental health counselors that are LGBTQ. They're full. There's not enough of them. So one of the funding that we got from ARPA is to UMass Boston. who's training especially mental health counselors, school psychologists, and they must identify in some way as being able to serve including the LGBTQ community.

Thank you. Mr. Chair, may I ask one more question? Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate you giving me an extra minute, Mr. Chair. Can you just tell me what the official position is on the city administration as it relates to the issue with Fenway Community Health Center not providing those services? What is the official position?

I can't speak myself for the official position, but I can find out from our leadership what they would state. I'm sorry, I can't answer that at this time.

Does anybody else on the panel know what the position is?

Yeah, in conjunction with BPHC, MOLA released a statement and we'd be happy to get that exact statement to you.

Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Councillor Flynn. Councillor Mejia? You're up next. Five minutes.

Thank you, Chair. And thank you all to have you here. Santee, can you just talk to us a little bit about how the City of Boston is preparing to safeguard digital privacy and equitable access to online resources in light of the proposed federal restrictions? And then can you also talk to us about the city's technology infrastructure to be used to strengthen partnerships with local organizations that provide online safety education and resources in navigating Such. And then I do have some questions for the Boston Public Health Commission and MOLA. But let's start with you, Santi.

Yeah, absolutely. So I think, again, we Technology is both a great enabler and a connector, and then it also presents novel risks. And it's something that we think about it in the context of the things that we do internally within the city, but also with our community. So I'll give you some examples of things that we've done. We work closely with a broad number of groups and individuals from the LGBTQIA. plus community to come up with gender-aware design standards and data standards on how we collect information. One of the primary things that we ended up doing precisely because it was requested to us by the community organizations was never requiring people to report their gender unless we actually absolutely needed it to to process work at the city for compliance sake.

And the idea here was that the risk of privacy outweighed Even in some cases, there's well-intentioned times where we're saying we want to measure how are different services used by people from different gender identities. We said it is less important for us to know that information. We can get that information after the case with people that want to opt in into this, then instead of creating a barrier for access. These topics are complex and complicated. Again, technology is not only provided, even in the case of, as some of the council questions have asked, We at the city can provide some layers of infrastructure, but ultimately there's a lot of players that come to play when it comes to accessing resources. The social media platforms, the parent companies that operate these,

Internet Service Providers, the Federal Regulators. So that's also where we do a lot of work in partnering with community organizations to do training. For instance, we've done work with Central Boston Elderly Service. I messed that up. Anyways, we work on digital literacy around privacy and security. So to make sure that people are safe when they're accessing online, they're not.

So sorry, I only have a minute and 53 seconds left, but thank you, Santi, for that. I'm curious. You know, in terms of MOLA, is there anyone monitoring the federal and state policy changes? And if so, have there been any policy proposals that we can implement on the local level in regards to... Just making sure that we are creating Safety and all of that. Just curious to what you've seen and what you've heard and what role can city government play in amplifying the voices of young people in particular who are directly impacted by these proposed laws?

Those are both great questions. I would say the MOLA team, we are monitoring. We have an incredible policy director who is here with us today. I would say we're also working very closely with E&I policy folks, as well as working really with other departments to ensure that When they're looking at building out, expanding, shifting their own internal policies, that those policies are in fact affirming and bringing us into those conversations. For the youth piece, or for your second question, I think asking community, asking MOLA what are the things that we know could be helpful is always something that's critical. This past summer, our entire team put out a city-wide Thank you.

And because I only have

You have four seconds left. I'm just curious for the Boston Public Health Commission, can you just talk to us a little bit about what gaps exist in data and what a helpful study would look like for you and the reason why I ask is because as part of the advocacy that we're doing on the ordinance that we're working on right now there is a piece that we're hoping to have a study conducted. And so it would just be helpful to get on the record what type of data you would believe is important so that we can keep that top of mind as we continue to navigate this conversation.

Thank you. It's a wonderful question. To be honest, I was just in a meeting this morning talking about API communities and data. So I think any time when we could de-aggregate data to look at, like you heard me mention earlier, and LGBTQ communities broad. And there's intersections every which way. So I think if you could find a way to To deepen the data knowledge and de-aggregate so we could really understand, especially from an equity standpoint, who's in the most need. It's always like an inverse triangle or something. We know there's need, but then layer by layer, who needs the services the most? and what are those services in particular, whether it's access to online resources or otherwise. I think that would be extremely helpful.

Thank you for that. And I know that we weren't able to get an official statement on the Fenway. I just would like to encourage us to consider the role that our community health centers play in helping to fill that gap. and while that's just one, there's many others. I'm sure there's many, you know them all. But I do believe that there is a role for the Boston Public Health Commission, our Boston Public Schools, to help stand in that gap. I just don't know what it looks like, but I would be curious to hear from you all, not today, but at some point, what those gaps are and what we need to do here legislatively to provide you or even through the budget to provide you the resources that you need to be able to fill those gaps. Just because I don't believe that government can always stand in the gap of everything, but we do have levers to be able to provide you all some resources to help support community.

And so maybe you don't have the answers to that today. but I would love to hear those answers eventually so that we can take our marching orders from you all and advocate effectively for that.

Thank you, we'll plan to do that.

Okay, yeah, thank you, Councillor Mejia. Councillor Pepén, you got five minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I also want to thank Councillor Mejia because a lot of the questions and concerns that I had are very similar to the ones you brought up. You know, when I look at acts like the COSA and Screen Act, they're going to have serious implications on our youth, and especially on the LGBTQIA plus community youth, because it's going to really impact heavily their interaction with internet and just social media or any type of resource that they're trying to achieve online. That's a really big deal because it's also, I think, to all three of your points, it's about feeling accepted and it's about making sure that they're feeling represented, not just in person but even online as well.

So my question to the three of you is, if, and hopefully not, but something like this passes, how can the city then create some sort of a, kind of like a pushback campaign on like, no. What your beliefs are, what you're trying to search for right now, any resources you may need is still available in the city of Boston.

I can try to get started again. As I mentioned, some of these things fall outside of the jurisdiction of the city, but I think that we have a commitment to make sure that we have information that is useful and it's available to everyone who needs it, and it's available in Boston.gov. I think that partially what I heard earlier is that a lot of young people that are looking for information and guidance are having to go and resort to and other resources where you might even get information that is not qualified or accessible from people that are professionals. So I think that for us, my perspective would be We're always committing to making sure that we have The best resources and the right resources for every Bostonian and anyone who has internet access through Boston.gov and partnering with the Health Commission and with MOLA in doing that.

Besides that, again, there's no official statement yet on the legislation that you referenced. These are complicated topics where they're talking about like regulating platforms like Facebook and Instagram and there's complicated issues around these things like Section 230 is one of their way, It's one of the reasons why social media platforms have unilateral decision in what they moderate because they have you know legislation that enables them to to get away with censoring or changing their own information without any federal oversight so it's complicated but on our side we're committed to make sure that these resources are and we know that we work very closely on curating and making sure that the information that we have is accurate, it is of high quality and it is relevant to people that need it.

And obviously the Otis is not entirely I want you all to do something. I think that this is a way bigger conversation that we obviously have to have probably with our Attorney General because this is simply an attack on freedom of speech. Thank you. Thank you. We know where we stand as this municipal government. I think, I mean, there's a majority of us in here and I'm hearing what you all are saying, but I think there's also has to be a push from both admin and city council to the attorney general's office to say, This is where we stand. We need to fight back, at least at the state level, because obviously we can't control everything the Trump administration is trying to do. But at least at a state level, I think that there could be some pushback.

I'm just thinking a little bit further ahead here, but grateful. I don't have really any more questions, just as long as we are on the same mindset, making sure that our communities, everyone feels like they're represented in the city of Boston. Thank you.

Okay, yeah, I just had a couple things, and if anyone has a follow-up for this panel, we can go to them. Samara, I was going to ask you, like, you know, what can BPS do better? Just in terms of what BPS is doing now, what goals we can set, or what are other

I guess I'll just preface when I was speaking of my my own child that was hat off just for a sec but I think BPS works really hard actually to address the needs of their youth. I can't really speak for them in terms of what they would need, but if I were to guess, I think there is concern about funding, at least for their community partners who serve youth for their mental health needs. So if anything, I'd say asking them what supports they might need to support the mental health of their youth and asking them if there's funding needs that they have. especially around LGBTQIA2 spirit plus youth to really look to see like what supports do they say they need and over time what do they feel like has and hasn't been working in supporting those youth

and of course any and all funds for like anything that evidence-based does work for anti-bullying and changing culture which I think is very difficult given this current Thank you. Thank you very much. across all communities because I think it sort of has an unhappy trickle down what the federal government does kind of Thank you. Thank you very much.

I've heard about climate studies that we're waiting on or that are being done for students in BPS. Have you seen any progress on that or do you even know what I'm talking about? Maybe not.

I am, unfortunately, I'm not sure. Well, there's many studies at once. I'm not sure the climate studies in BPS.

Yeah, I think there's just surveys of BPS students and parents. And I think we're waiting on some.

Oh yes, yes, BPS does those. Yes, I think that'd be interesting. In terms of our own work with BPS, it's capacity building work mostly. So we have Flourish Agenda, which is helping those same 10 BPS schools Thank you. We're also looking at how do we support staff and teachers, social workers inside schools to understand toxic stress, layers of oppression, including what homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, et cetera, looks like and feels like. and what that might look like as they shift their own policies and procedures. So that was, just to give you a sense, that was labeled a trauma-informed school system transformation RFP, so underline the word transformation.

So if anything, if that does prove successful, because we're in the little bit, three-quarters way through that process, personally, well, not personally, professionally and personally, I think it'd be amazing if more support If that proves to be actually useful in making an impact, supporting that to move across more high-need schools would be strong because that's changing. I remember when I talked about it was from putting out fires, which is the current clinical to having the fires never start in the first place, which is the background capacity transformation work. So that's another thought.

OK, thanks. And Santi, just in terms of this, I think we've seen the Federal legislation kind of kicking around. I guess, does the city have any ability to make things available in a way that's, if there's a federal law, does the city have any leeway in what's available here if things are blocked under the, I just, and do you look at that? Are there local kind of, does it vary by municipality at all? Any thoughts?

Yeah, I would say, and again, with a big asterisk on what I'm about to say, but I think at least the legislation, as I read it, the COSA legislation, I did not I was not able to take a close look at the other piece of legislation. It's talking about edge verification and some other tools to restrict access to platforms where kids or people under 18 are accessing different resources, particularly like gaming platforms or whatnot. Obviously the city does not run a gaming platform, So we don't think that we would be subject to the restrictions. But we run our publicly available website where we have resources that are useful and helpful. And again, we try to get that information The information that we know that is useful for people.

So that's primarily the place where I think that We can play a part. We have access to information that anyone can access online. You don't need to because it is not in this case particularly targeted at children or young kids is something that anyone can access online and we will continue to support the content that is provided through MOLA and BPHC.

Okay, I want to thank the panel. I would say one question, but that didn't work in the first round, so I'll give you two minutes, but definitely time for one question. Santana, and Councilor Mejia.

Thank you, Chair Weber. I do have one question of Officer Mara. Earlier you were talking about some of the programs that BPAT has and some of them are funded or it sounds like all of them that you mentioned are funded through ARPA funds. Do you all have plans to... Once the ARPA funds run out, are we looking to continue those programs? Are they going to be discontinued? Is there a plan? Are these conversations happening? I just want to have some more insight on that.

Yeah, thank you for the question. We are currently looking on how to continue especially the capacity building because I feel it has the sort of broadest bang for your buck and especially with a train the trainer type platform you certainly can move the information into places where it's sustainable. So we're applying for more grants and talking about continued partnership. For example, with HRA and then some of the work that you heard me talk about convening across the commission who's involved in the LGBTQ work. I think the more that we de-silo the more we're going to be able to find those sustainable solutions so that when the ARPA funds run out we can kind of more easily work together to move ahead projects and and programs that have been working forward more. Unfortunately, some of the funding, it does end, so there might be pieces that miss, but we are going to pull together again our ARPA grantees to talk for a second time about what's feasible for sustainability

and the reason I mentioned the Flourish agenda, this trauma-informed school system transformation is just hopes that it might be picked up by PPS or other funders once the work proves to be more useful. So even though ARPA might be ending, We might be able to see some evaluation and metric outcomes that really speak to how powerful the work was. And then hopefully funders would step in or school if they find it worthy. So more to come.

GREG BRUDNICKI. Sounds good. Thank you. Thank you. GREG BRUDNICKI. Okay. Thank you, Councilor Mejia.

Thank you, Chair. So I'm just curious if you could just talk to us a little bit about what strategies are in place to ensure that residents seeking mental health or gender-affirming care can continue to access Trustworthy Information Online. Actually, that was not my question. Well, actually, you know what?

Maybe we can both share. So like you saw with the resources, we kind of continually release through our social media channels. We've been updating Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for that.

I always say that Boston is resource rich but coordination poor. We just have like a coordination gap. Sometimes it's hard. There's so much information. So many resources, but the people who need it most are often the least connected to those resources. And that's always the gap that I'm trying to fill, right, is that information is power, literally. and it's currency and there's certain people who have it and who are close proximity to power and information and privilege and there's a lot of folks who are slipping through the gaps And those are always the ones that I'm here to uplift unapologetically. And those are the ones that I'm really concerned about in this moment. And so just curious about kind of what are we doing to close that gap? and Maya that 14 seconds left.

I just wanted to also uplift. I know that I spoke about it in the presentation, but really folks taking a second Boston.gov slash LGBTQ to look at that resource guide. Within that is also health care and mental health supports. If there are organization service providers who are not on that yet, I welcome you to do that, and we push that out into the community to make sure that folks have that access. Thank you for that.

And I heard my time.

If you have a follow-up question, yeah.

Thank you, sir, Chair. It's not so much a question, it's more of a recommendation. I also think that when we're looking at who we add as providers, there's again, going back to the There are some folks who are on and there are some folks who are not, so much so. But I just think there's so many other people who can be great, I don't know, translators or ambassadors or helpful, right? that we can tap into. I'm thinking about some of the hair and barbershop salon owners. I'm just thinking outside the box here, because we keep going back to traditional forms of leadership and there's so many other informal leaders and folks that can help fill in that gap and share information and disseminate that oftentimes

Because we're so in a different level, we forget about the little basic people who can be such an amazing lifeline for our kiddos. And I just want to name that. that in the six years that I've been here, those are the folks that I bring into this chamber. Those are the voices that I'm here to amplify because there's so much privilege in these spaces that the little mom and pop You know, bodega owners, the laundromat facilitator who's, I mean, like, there's so many people that we're missing out on because we're not thinking a non-traditional leadership. Everything is so I just want to encourage us to really start thinking outside of our little boxes as we continue to make sure that we can reach as many people as possible, especially in these times.

Shout out to Perfect 10 Salon in West Roxbury. We love you. Thank you for standing up against the burning of our flag. We love you.

Chair, may I respond to that, or are we out of time?

No, no, yeah, you can.

Okay. Councilor Mejia, thank you. I just wanted to say that we are looking, especially at the center, at task-sharing approaches, which is exactly that idea that you're speaking of, that Mental Health Education and Sharing can be across communities instead of by clinicians and those that are licensed. So pray for us because we just are putting in a grant to try to expand some of that HRA work, especially So I listed out parents, youth, barbers, stylists, librarians, et cetera, to really be able to have community members feel empowered to be able to sort of understand mental health and train each other in mental health. So we agree with your standpoint and look to do more of that work.

Thank you. Thank you, Samara. I look forward to being a part of that. And we're working with three schools right now. on a mental health and wellness ambassadors program that we created alongside clinicians of color. And we're at Madison, the Burke, which is now the Holland, and we are going to be expanding to English. And that program is something that our office created in partnership with a nonprofit organization and a group of clinicians of color. But I do think that even in that space, There is an opportunity for us to really look at the GSAs that exist in those schools and figure out how we can plug in some of the students in that capacity too. So I just want to name that as a viable opportunity for partnership. Thank you, that would be wonderful.

Okay, thank you very much. Thank you to the panel. I'm going to dismiss you. I hope you'll stay to listen to the advocates. We're going to take a five-minute recess, but when we come back, We're going to have Evan Greer, Muhammad Buran, Antonio Mateo Garcia, Alejandro Caraballo, Jack Imbrogamo, and Sal Khan, if you're here. Grab a seat. I'm going to step out for a minute, and we'll resume when this clock is up. I apparently have to gavel for the pause.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks for watching!

Thank you.

We're back in session. I'm just going to make sure I have Everyone here, Evan Greer, Director of Fight for the Future, Muhammad Burhan. Berhan, Founder, Intersectional Innovation and Impact Labs, Antonio Mateo Garcia. Okay, great. Executive Director of HELP by AMG. Alejandra Caraballo, clinical instructor at Harvard Cyber Law Clinic. Jack Imbrogamo, okay, great, Executive Director, Queer Neighborhood Council, Sal Khan, I guess I can do the process of elimination at this point, community activist,

DJ Baker, Community Activist, and again, you're gonna have to, Zari, Zari, Zari, El, Director at HELP by AMG. And okay, that's all I have. Did I get everyone? Great. So I guess if you want me to dictate, we can go right to left. If you have worked out an order, You'd like to speak, that would be fine too. So if you want to start and then we'll just go down and just make sure you have a microphone in front of you when you're speaking. So if you want to make a statement, we'll have time for questions and and all that. Honestly, because we have many more panelists than we usually have up here, I just keep it on the brief side. I'm not going to, unless you're really long, I'll try to limit it, but

Thank you for giving me the opportunity. My name is Sal Khan, and I use all pronouns. I'm an openly queer migrant activist, a former ICE detainee, and a founder of Out Newcomers. which advocates for the rights of LGBTQ plus migrants in the greater Boston area. Today I'm here because Kids Online Safety Act, COSA, is a threat to our communities, our youth, and our very right to exist. COSA is, let us be clear, COSA is not about protecting kids. It is a censorship bill dressed up in friendly language Boston City Council's own hearing order says exactly that it gives hostile government sweeping powers to censor LGBTQ plus content under the guise of protecting minors. We know what happens when politicians obsessed With attacking queer and trans people get new tools, they use them, they weaponize them against us.

We're living through a moment where extremist politicians call queer people groomers, where trans kids are being banned from healthcare, where books are removed from libraries where drag performers are harassed, where migrants are demonized and trans folks are being legislated out of public life. Fascism doesn't always announce itself before coming. Sometimes it arrives wrapped in sugar-coated language of child safety or protecting our minors. Online spaces are lifelines for queer and trans Youth for survivors, for people seeking gender affirming or reproductive care. These spaces are spaces that allow LGBT youth to find community and hope, especially in a world that's increasingly becoming hostile. Boston orders says itself that resources, these resources are lifesaving. COSA puts these lifelines in danger.

Personally speaking, as a queer migrant, if it wasn't for online spaces for Bagley, for example, my trans sibling back in Pakistan would have found me when I was abducted and held by ICE and denied. I had legal representation for 57 days in Plymouth, Massachusetts. My sibling who contacted this friend, who then on their own mobilized the Boston community and campaigned for my freedom. If there was online censorship, More than 2,000 people have signed the petition calling for my release under the hashtag Free Sal with multitude of other Boston-based organizations like Asian American Resource Workshop. LGBTQ migrants like me, the stakes are even higher. Many of us have fled countries where queer and trans people are criminalized for even existing or killed. Coming to America itself hasn't been easy. We have survived tension and lost our families.

That safety itself, my safety and my community's safety, is now under attack by an administration in D.C. that wants to censor the very resources feel alive to stay alive, get legal help, find housing, and connect to our community. That's not protection, that's erasure. We need legislation that protects young people from real harms, exploitation, abuse, stalking, Cyberbullying and Corporate Data Mining without giving the federal government a censorship switch to use against queer and trans and migrant communities. We need policies rooted in human rights and civil liberties, not political fearmongering or censorship. When we fail to address this issue, we encourage frustration to grow and we hinder our ability to connect, organize, and tell the truth about what's happening to us. We refuse to let that happen. We deserve safety, not censorship. We deserve digital freedom, not surveillance.

We deserve a future where queer and migrant communities can thrive, not hide. Lawmakers listening, if you're not going anywhere, we are to fight COSA, fight censorship, and fight every attempt to silence our communities because queer lives are not a threat censorship is. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Jack?

Good afternoon. I want to first say thank you to Councillor Santana for sponsoring this and to Councillor Weber for chairing this hearing. And thank you to all the councillors who had joined us today. My name is Jack Imbrogamo. My pronouns are he, him. And first and foremost, I'm a deeply concerned parent of two school-aged children right here in Boston and our Boston Public Schools. I'm also the executive director and co-founder of the Queer Neighborhood Council, where we fight every day to support Greater Boston's LGBTQIA plus and ally communities. And I am a transgender man. I'm here before you today Not just as an advocate, but as someone who has lived the reality of needing safe space for myself and my children. I experienced deep trauma from transphobia in my community and my family experienced deep trauma from transphobia in my community. simply because I chose to step into who I really am and did so proudly.

My personal journey and my role as a father, one who is constantly seeking to protect his kids from that kind of isolation and fear, is why I am here. I'm speaking in strong opposition to any state or federal legislation, including COSA, the Screen Act, and efforts to weaken Section 220 that risk digital censorship and threatens the fundamental right to lifesaving information and community for our residents. The internet is our children's life raft. For my children and for countless queer youth immigrant survivors and black and indigenous people of color, The internet isn't a distraction, it's a critical infrastructure for survival. When physical spaces like our homes or local schools become unsafe or non-affirming, Online communities are the essential life rafts.

Online communities provide validated, moderated spaces where a young person can discreetly research gender affirming care, where a queer immigrant can locate anonymous legal aid, and where even my own kids are empowered to connect with peers who share their experiences without fear of exposure. This access is not a luxury, it's a public health imperative We know that connecting with affirming peers online acts as a crucial buffer against stress and reduces risks of depression and suicide among LGBTQIA plus youth. When you censor the community, you are quite literally threatening lives. Censorship bills would isolate my children, and I want to talk about why. Legislation like COSA is framed as child protection and AIM Every Parent Shares, but COSA's vague duty of care creates a fatal flaw for queer families. When social media and online community platforms face the threat of massive lawsuits,

often from politically motivated anti-LGBTQIA plus groups, they will inevitably choose one path, preemptive self censorship. They will suppress content related to topics deemed controversial not to protect kids, but to protect their bottom line. For our community, that translate directly to the removal of essential mental health resources, LGBTQIA plus history, and identity affirming content. This legislation won't make my children safer. It will make them more isolated and less able to find the education they desperately need to navigate a complicated world. As a parent, Don't want a government mandated filter deciding what my kids are allowed to learn about themselves and the world. I want more education and more access for them, not less. And there's a broader threat to digital privacy.

The threat also comes from proposals like the App Store Accountability Act, which mandates broad age verification and parental consent. This isn't just an unconstitutional burden on free expression, it's a major safety risk. These measures require collecting vast amounts of sensitive personal data, increasing cybersecurity risk for our families, while chilling anonymous access to educational and civic apps. Weakening Section 230 would lead to a comprehensive wave of content removal. The combined effects of these policies is not youth protection. It is the establishment of a surveillance-heavy digital ecosystem that disproportionately harms the most vulnerable. It silences the voices of the people who rely on digital connection for their survival. My call to action as a Boston parent is urging the Boston City Council to oppose these proposed laws and to advocate vigorously against them at the state and federal levels.

Instead of spending political capital on censorship, we must invest in digital literacy programs that empower both parents and youth to navigate the online world safely and critically. Boston must be a leader in digital equity, ensuring that the technology used by our residents supports rather than suppresses Their right to expression, community, and life-saving resources. The stakes are too high for us to do anything less. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. Evan? Thanks so much. So my name is Evan Greer. I use she or they pronouns, and I am the director of Fight for the Future. But more importantly, I'm a parent of a Boston public school student and a resident of Jamaica Plain. I'm here sort of wearing all of those hats today. I think my colleagues and allies here have already done a fantastic job talking about this federal legislation and the danger that it poses to our community here in Boston. But I want to speak a little bit about why are we bringing this to you? You guys aren't our congressmen. You're not our senators. But I think it's important that we do say clearly that the city has a role to play here. Santana, and, you know, Councilor Mejia asked this, and I think other Councilors are asking us, like, what do you want us to do? And that's why I really want to thank Councilor Santana for introducing this resolution, because I think Frankly, these are federal issues for the most part. Some of these are state issues.

Some of the age verification legislation we're talking about, for example, has been moving in red and purple states, but also has been discussed even here at the state level in Massachusetts. And so I think that while most of these issues are not things that can be regulated or legislated through a city ordinance or at the city level, We can have the City Council of Boston speak in a clear voice to say that our city believes that young people here deserve to be able to access information online. This resolution goes a long way toward pushing back against the demonization of resources for youth as if those resources harm the youth that they actually help. These censorship bills and age verification legislation are rooted in the same misguided thinking as abstinence-only sex education, or drag bands or book bands. They are rooted in the false idea that we protect kids by silencing them and keeping them ignorant. This is not about protection.

In the end, it's about control. We actually protect kids by empowering them, by giving them access to information, by ensuring that they have mental health counselors in their schools, trusted adults who they can go to if they're concerned about something they've seen online or offline, or something that's happening in their lives. And I'm not just saying that. This is backed up by data. I want to read something quickly from a letter that my organization, Fight for the Future, organized That was signed by more than 1,000 parents of transgender youth from across the country, including more than 100 parents of transgender youth from right here in Massachusetts. This letter was addressed to the US Senate and all organizations that were supporting the Kids Online Safety Act, but what's being said here applies to all of the different types of legislation that we're talking about today.

And this letter specifically cites a recent report from the US Surgeon General, which, while it showed that there are real concerns related to big tech companies, algorithmic surveillance, and the ways that these companies operate doing harm to kids and adults, that if you look at the data, we actually see that access to social media can be a lifeline for LGBTQ kids. And LGBTQ kids specifically actually experience better mental health outcomes If they have access to social media and online spaces than if they don't. What that points us to is exactly what is in this resolution that's before the City Council today. No one here in front of you is saying that we should do nothing to address the harm of these giant corporations and their exploitative business model. And in fact, the resolution that Councillor Santana has brought us

specifically names ways that legislators could address these harms through things like privacy legislation, cracking down on these companies' ability to collect so much data about our kids in the first place and use that data to shove content down their throats. That's something that Congress can do that actually protects kids without throwing the marginalized community of trans kids under the bus. We can also break up these companies and address their anti-competitive business practices so that we can have meaningful choices so that families can find a social media platform that works and has privacy and content moderation practices that fit their family's needs. These are the types of things that we need from our lawmakers and the City of Boston can help advance those types of policies by speaking in a clear voice rejecting these dangerous censorship and surveillance provisions and urging our federal lawmakers to instead adopt thoughtful policies that address the harm of big tech while protecting trans rights. Thanks. Okay, thank you very much.

DJ?

Oh, thank you for that. Thank you, Councilor Weber and Councilor Santana. Thank you all for having us here today. Excuse me if I'm not speaking up enough. OK. I'm DJ Baker. No, I'm fine. I'm fine. I'll sit through it. My name is DJ Baker. My pronouns are they, them. As you heard, I am a community activist. I wear so many different hats and so really I'm just going to speak from those different hats that I wear. I think first and foremost, I think just about everyone here on the panel is probably in millennial generation age. I think all of us grew up. In the millennial age of the age of information, and when the internet was still fresh and new, and as Councilor Durkan said earlier, I think there's obviously dangers that I think have already been addressed I think going any further is

and many more. to be able to know, have access to resources and be exposed to what life looks like as a queer child instead of being confused by what Parents or where teachers that are affirming are telling me one thing, but I know how I exist and experience life differently. But I also say this as a co-parent. you know this is about like you know helping parents you know get their kids safe well I think as a parent letting parents parent their own children like this is about this is about actually letting empowering parents instead of putting bars on parents. In a lot of ways, that's what COSA does. That's what Screen Act does.

And it's... It's really just alarming because you look at it with book bands and with the school boards that they are limiting parents and how they're able to raise their children. and the access that their children have at schools, which is, you know, public funded by all of us. So I also am a doula. And so I will say this as a birth doula who works with parents, who literally helps bring children into the world that you mentioned in this docket around reproductive care and justice as well. And so I really want to speak to that. that as a doula, there's two things we always talk about. is informed consent and evidence-based science. And so as you were speaking with the administration earlier, we need to have evidence. Everything that we move and how we move should be evidence-based and it should be with informed consent that children should be able to have that information, parents should be able to have that information.

and be able to consent and move forward. I will say as a former classroom teacher that technology, online resources, that was how I was able to teach and teach well In my classroom because I actually had limitations from my district I wasn't able to teach as effective as I wanted to I end up having to find and create new ways in order to be a more effective educator and And so I've seen and experienced how those barriers with access online, even as a teacher, that it actually kind of cuffs my hands in order to teach the way that I know how to. And as a person of color, I mean, I could say so many things, but I want to say as a person of color that this is just like, this is a civil rights.

This is a human right to be able to have access to representation, to be able to see ourselves in each other, to be able to see ourselves throughout the world and having this limitation is going to create bars on that. Access matters in this. I also will say limiting data collection. Evan, you spoke to that. And also protecting our privacy, protecting our autonomy in this country. And so I believe that Boston and Boston City Council and the mayor's offices can do that. You know, you all asked earlier, what can Boston do? I think Boston can be the path to those resources, making sure that MOLA and other agencies, they say, hey, we have these community-based organizations, the NGOs, We have these resources that are in our city. Here's how you access them. Here's where you get to them. These are the connections. But not just that, Boston can be the resource. Creating more

More opportunities like the commission that Councillor Mejia has introduced. And so diversifying those resources as well. being a safe space. We talk about all the time, we want a trans youth shelter in Boston. We need a trans youth shelter in Boston. That is a part of this. So I'm going to go on because I feel like I'm rambling here, but access looks like this hearing. You know, everyone has access to this hearing publicly, correct? I think that's what this looks like. And so having limitations like COSA could actually limit kids and parents and families be able to know what's going on and many more. and I'm just gonna really finish with saying this. There are advocacy groups that see COSA as a First Amendment violation and is looked at as constitutional.

So I encourage the city to look at ways that they can work in coalition with other municipalities and with other states to potentially sue and push back from federal legislation and executive branches as well. Okay, thank you very much Antonio.

Good afternoon City Council and good afternoon to all my community members who sit here with me today. Today, I'm here to talk about docket number 1670, order for a hearing to ensure access to lifesaving online resources to the LGBTQIA+. and other marginalized communities in response to a proposed state and federal digital censorship and legislation. And with this, I do want to start with a quote The revolution has always been in the hands of the young. The young always inherit the revolution. And that is by Huey Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party. I'm here today as a queer Latino trans man A disabled veteran and someone who has experienced homelessness as a youth and young adult who have found my way through in-person and online connections to keep me afloat during some of my darkest days.

I'm also here today as the executive director and founder of Help by AMG, a nonprofit dedicated to making sure everybody lives. Through our programs such as Free Inclusive Community Closet filled with clothes, hygiene items, diapers, and a wide variety of other products, culturally and gender affirming items all donated and grant accessible by the community and for the community. Help IMG strives to get communities that need unwavering support during uncertain times like homelessness, LGBTQ Folks, BIPOC, veterans, parents, and more. And bills like COSA will directly impact the communities we serve, including the people who work, volunteer, and show up tirelessly for others. I won't go on to explain the stats because so many have said them already. But the numbers are staggering and we must stand by our communities who are marginalized to support them in, again, some of the darkest days we've experienced.

I asked the city to consider how blocking services such as Help by AMG, Trans Exchange Boston, Bagley, Boston Glass, and Gems could protect children more than it would harm them. And I asked them to consider looking To us adults speaking now about the services that allowed us to grow up or the services we create now that we needed then and ask themselves, wouldn't I want that for all the children to grow up happy and safe? During times like these, ones of uncertainty and struggle, allowing access for youth, young adults, and their families to get the care they may need, Be one of the greatest risk reduction tools we implement for the intersecting and differing communities here in Boston and Greater Massachusetts. Youth deserve to feel seen, access what they need, with dignity and safety and build bridges to trusted peers and adults who will show up for them when they need it most, especially those within leadership roles.

I ask the city to listen thoughtfully to my other community members as they speak, hear our stories, and work with us to ensure our next generation of SGB TQI Plus are heard, seen, and protected by those who refuse to lead with love for all peoples and all human beings. Thank you. Okay, thank you.

Again, pronunciation. No, it's okay. Zuri, is it? Zari, yes.

Sorry, I apologize. So many of my community members here today have given amazing examples on what we can do. to combat bills like COSA. So I wanted to talk a little bit about my experience being a trans person in Boston, a native Bostonian actually. I'm from Dorchester. That's where I was born and raised. And I was also raised in Quincy as well. and I came out at 14 years old and during this time I was trying to figure out who I was and the first access I had was going online. To asking questions, finding Reddit forums, looking at YouTube videos to figure out what was going on with me. And when I came out at 14, at 16 I was homeless because of lack of information, lack of community, and lack of love. And when I was 16, I was able to get access to Bagley. I'm actually a Bagley alumni. And from there on, I spent so much of my time accessing mental health care, accessing food, accessing clothes,

and accessing just like this fight for myself and for my community that I didn't have before. And during that, I am actually one of the co-founders of Trans Exchange Boston, which is an online group that has been around for about eight years. and through TransExchange Boston, we have connected people with safe medical care providers People with clothing, people with advice, people with community. We have about 3,000 people in that group now as we are starting to also open up Trans Housing Boston. As people from other states flee to our state, because of trans violence and the laws that are being presented and passed in their states. I think about this bill and how Massachusetts has trans accommodation public laws and how we're a trans-sectuary state. and how fighting against COTA is just another step in ensuring that any people that live here were born here or move here are safe and the resources that they are finding.

I think about how we use our phones every single day. And I asked the city council to imagine if you couldn't use Google Maps, or you couldn't use your Gmail, or you couldn't look up the weather. That's what we're talking about when we're thinking about how COSA could limit the resources that we give our community, that they are used daily just like the weather app or they're used daily just like Google Maps. If I didn't have those resources when I came out at 14 and became homeless at 16, I say it very plainly. I would not be here. I have community. I have friends. I have a job. I have a partner. And I have pets who care about me very much. and that is all possible because of the resources that I was able to get. I think about the kids that I've supported throughout Bagley. I think about the ones that have grown up with me and I think about the kids now who are very, very nervous and are looking to the adults to speak for them to also give them space to speak for themselves and to figure out how we can make sure that they have a future just as much as I was granted a future.

I think it is very alarming that our federal websites can blame the trans community for lapses and snap, but we have to continuously come up and fight for a place in talking about our human rights to not be seen as evil beings, but to be seen as human beings. So I come to you with my personal experience in that online resources saved my life and it saved so many of my community members lives and it's saving lives now. We can figure out creative ways to combat against this, like so many of my community members have talked about. So I ask the City Council to think very thoughtfully about this, keep having conversations with us, keep working with us, and continue to open up pathways for youth to to talk about what they're going through right now. But yeah, I wanted to give a little bit of my personal story and how I came to be and how online resources are vital for me, my community, my family. and everyone who comes before me and after me.

Okay, thank you very much, Mohammed. Hello, everyone. My name is Mamdani. No, not really, but B-U-R-H-A-N. I think if people will learn now how to say Zahraan, they will now learn how to say Burhaan too. I want to say by saying that the people united will never be defeated and I really believe that. So I'm going to repeat it again. The people united will never be defeated. This unity, especially on social media, terrifies corrupt and authoritarian regimes because people power challenges a status quo built on greed and extraction. That's why the algorithm targets my content towards the most hateful audiences. That's why queer minorities, people of global majority, and those who are Sikh or Muslim are often hidden in the darkest corners of the internet.

because a Muslim, a queer, or a trans, or an immigrant person who has also leadership experience, history-making leadership experience, uniting communities, is threatening to the powers that be. This is why Meta permanently banned my account in 2021. I want to share that social media was life-saving to me despite all of this. I grew up in Pakistan. Child of low-income parents, my parents don't speak English. They didn't help me apply to scholarships to United States of America. I had to move on the basis of hard work and merit. Days when my bullies broke my arm in grade eight, I kept my head high. Days when I used to be stabbed on my back with a pen that my back is bleeding, I kept my head high. And I came to the United States as a scholar.

Yet, I didn't see other queer people growing up, not in media, not in anywhere. It wasn't in my imagination to ever actually See that queer people can actually live a life. They can wear makeup. They can wear heels. They can do that. But growing up, I was that one person who lived by authenticity. I would walk in the classroom like it's a runway show. Every day is either Halloween to me. Every day I live to true authenticity. But I changed that authenticity in the United States of America. I was living a lie. I was trying to Date Girls, because that is what you're supposed to do. I was trying to put myself into a box until the COVID-19 pandemic happened. and the world shut down and I went back to Pakistan where I have no friends and I have internship, research, academics to manage and I started telling my story on social media and that's when for the first time I actually saw more people like me, queer Africans,

queer trans people around the world who were resonating with me, sending me messages, and honestly, That was the most epic time of my life. I would not be sitting here. I would probably be married to a girl. I would probably be working in a corporate tech making some evil AI. and probably having children. But here am I, married to a man in Boston. My life changed due to social media. I used to borrow a camera from a media center and I would take pictures and I would post them. Every single day, despite having a schedule where I did not get sleep more than five hours in school due to my double majors in computer science, math, student work, internships, research, I did it all. So yes, account deletions and bias moderation are painful, but they do not keep children or anyone safe.

And yet, instead of holding big tech accountable, legislation like COSA threatens marginalized youth, claiming to protect them while doing the opposite, just like they did to me, deleting my years of hard work in seconds. Dear Councillors, thank you for having me. I'm founder of Intersectional Innovation and Impact Lab. I'm really thankful for Councillor Santana for sponsoring this, and I'm really thankful for my client, fight for the future who are doing this work for years. And all the speakers that are here today, all the community members that are here today and going through this very triggering conversation that I'm pretty sure is for a lot of people. I speak to you today also as a technical expert whose work spans leadership across public service, humanities, and science. I survived Boston by luck. I also survived Boston by privilege.

Boston was not built for me to survive. And I can write a 100-page paper on that with case studies, with data, study math, challenge me. I've spent over a decade leading youth organizing and tackling society's challenges in health and climate and have one central message. What Boston is lacking is intersectionality across all our systems. People who are speaking Tell me when was the last time they collaborated with queer people working in tech? When I moved to Boston, I moved with leadership roles lined up. I was organizing networking events with groups like Out in Tech, Hundreds of queer and trans people in tech every single month. But I saw three different Bostons. One, the innovation sector that is

Some of the most corrupt I have been the nonprofit sector within the innovation sector that is built on stealing grant money to further their own privilege instead of actually working for the community and then the grassroots. and many time, The top two might have merged, the corporations and the nonprofit, but not the grassroots. And that's why I stepped down from a lot of roles, because they did not align with my values. Out in Tech did not align with my values. Out in Tech do not align with my values. If all these bills were truly about protecting children, we must focus on Boston on real threats, anti-bullying, Initiatives, capacity building, creating jobs, affordable housing and healthcare, and ensuring a sustainable, healthy climate Threatening digital safety is not protection, it is harm.

There are people who told they do capacity building. Maybe like two, three people shows up in their event, especially in the last few events. From their marketing, to who they reach, to who is coming to their event, it's a circle cycle of violence. that must be broken. The algorithms children navigate today reflect our society, biased, imperfect, and unethical. Algorithms are not God, they're built with data. Without ethical oversight, they manipulate, erase, and perpetuate inequality. More effective solutions exist, transparency in algorithm, embedding humanity and intersectionality in AI development, and diversifying the AI sector. Censoring marginalized voices is not safety, it is gaslighting. Lack of accountability on AI bias and censorship is not also an LGBTQ issue.

We must recognize here that it is our racial justice Intersectional Justice Issue. These bills disproportionately impact youth of color who rely on biased platforms to survive, connect, and cope. As someone whose youth-led work was erased I see this as a part of a broader pattern tied to US imperialism. Authoritarian regimes follow these President to suppress queer and trans existence worldwide. And when we fail to resist this, we fail our community, but the world. Chair, Councillors, I'm happy to answer any technical questions you have about AI and digital systems, but I will not accept censorship disguised in co-opted jargon even when it comes endorsed by elected officials like Senator Warren and Markey. Thank you. OK, thank you. Alejandra.

Thank you. My name is Alejandra Caraballo. I'm a clinical instructor at the Harvard Cyber Law Clinic, although I'm here in my personal capacity. Prior to that, I used to work at the Transgender Legal Defense Education Fund. and the LGBT Law Project and the New York Legal Assistance Group. My expertise has really been at the intersection of gender and technology, and particularly a lot around issues of content moderation and online platform safety. And I really just want to get, because we've had some wonderful testimony already about what COSA is and how it'll impact people. And I really want to get to the kind of technical legal aspect of what It establishes a duty of care for tech companies to essentially base their algorithms off of outcomes. that are extremely vague such as whether or not they cause depression, anxiety, or other mental health symptoms as a result.

And the enforcement arm of this would be the Federal Trade Commission. And originally within COSA, it originally had allowed all 50 state AGs to bring state lawsuits against the companies for violating this duty of care standard. Obviously, that was problematic because we would not want someone like Attorney General Paxton in Texas basically determining what is okay on social media and what isn't. Unfortunately, now with the FTC being politicized to the extent that it is, their mission now has basically become weaponized to target the trans community. The FTC chair as part of his effort to become confirmed and nominated explicitly stated that, sorry, I'm gonna put it right here,

that his role or his plan was to use the role of the FTC to fight back against the trans agenda. So now think about it, the FTC is gonna have authority to regulate and go after tech companies, particularly over Thank you. Thank you. of the bill, Marsha Blackburn specifically said that the goal for the bill was protecting minor children from the transgender in this culture. She tried to claim that it was a separate issue. It's very clear if you watch the video that it was entirely the point of what she was making about the legislation. And so from the get-go, this bill has been targeted at

trying to essentially enshrine certain cultural values into social media and erase and censor a culture that they view as beneath them or view as degenerate or view as something that shouldn't be viewed by anyone else. And so that is one of the surprising reasons why our senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey supported this legislation. There had been some compromises around specifically dropping the AG enforcement provision and allowing the FTC All souls jurisdiction to enforce the duty of care standard, but it is still extremely problematic given who is in charge of the FTC at this moment in time. And I really just want to focus as well on the aspect of how this will work in practice.

As we saw with prior legislation removing Section 230 protections around sex work content online, SESTA, FOSTA, it essentially incentivized overcompliance. entire sites went down. Sex workers were unable to make any sort of living online. Their livelihoods were constantly disrupted as a result. And this was all in the name of combating sex trafficking, which I think Everyone can agree is a noble goal. However, the means that this was attempted through ultimately caused more harm than good. And specifically, the tech companies themselves over-complied with what the letter of the law required. and this is exactly what will happen here. There's the extremely vague standard and there's already narratives being pushed by the anti-trans side that trans content, LGBT content, in and of itself causes depression,

and anxiety because it causes people to become LGBTQ as part of a social contagion and therefore causes these mental illnesses and so therefore the content itself needs to be restricted and that's exactly the kinds of and the framework that they're going to push and push onto these tech companies who will be more than happy to comply. have already removed restrictions on hate speech against LGBTQ people. They explicitly put out a carve out that says, in their community guidelines, You cannot denigrate someone and call them mentally ill unless it's because they're LGBTQ. You can then call them mentally ill and that includes removing this T word slur for trans people from their list of slurs that are blacklisted on their website. and so they already do not want to protect the LGBTQ community. GLAAD's social media safety index has already found

Constant censorship of queer content. Meta was found earlier this year of having censored hashtags such as hashtag gay, hashtag lesbian for teenagers. and not allowing them to search that up on Instagram. So the censorship is already there and it would not take much for FTC to essentially force this censorship regime on the tech companies themselves. And so I understand this is a federal issue, but I think at the same time, all politics is local, and it remains to me, Senator Warren and Senator Markey have both been tremendous allies in the LGBTQ issues and fighting for trans youth and trans folks and it baffles me why they signed on to this bill when it is the clear intent and the effect that it's going to have is going to be to censor and erase LGBTQ identities online and ensure that communities cannot find themselves. So I thank you and welcome any questions.

Okay, thank you very much. So we're going to start with Councillor Santana. Six minutes follow-ups if you want. It's getting late in the day. Hopefully, everybody can do another round. So I'm gonna give each of you six minutes. If you have follow-up questions, that'll be fine.

Thank you, Chair Weber, and thank you all so much for being here. It's like, I know you all do it because it's personal, But this just shouldn't have to be the case. You're all advocating on behalf of yourselves or others. And I think this is exactly what the federal government wants, and I think This is exactly what I think they didn't expect us to be able to do. So I just really want to, again, thank you all for convening, working in community. I think it's very important right now, more than ever. I know the word more than ever is used. Thank you for joining us.

I don't have any questions for any of you. This is just... The more this hearing goes on, it's like the more frustrated I get because of just like, this is, you are Boston, right? You are part of our communities and every single day we're getting Today is censorship and it's again I think one of my colleagues mentioned it you know the censorship to our LGBTQ plus community what's what's gonna be tomorrow right and I just want you all to know that you know I'm gonna stand Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I'm someone that likes to have concrete steps of things that we need to be able to do to move things forward. And I'm happy to bring that back. Whether as a lead or whether to support my colleagues who are doing that work and who are doing that important work, just please count on me. But I don't want to ask any questions that I already know the answers to, that you already know. So again, I just really want to appreciate you all. Today's been a long hearing. I do know that I think the majority of our council colleagues were here today, which I really appreciated. I don't know how many of them the customer here is here, but we will bring this back to everyone. And just again, please hold us accountable. If you're not in communication with our office, I think most of you are. We'd love to be able to do that.

We'd love to be able to convene maybe more of a group discussion of, again, concrete things that we can do, my office can do, in partnership with other council colleagues. to move the work further. So, again, just thank you so much. Appreciate you all being here. And thank you, Councilor Weber.

Okay. Thank you, Councilor Santana. Councilor Mejia.

Thank you, Chair. and thank you for bringing your full selves into this chamber. I love all of it, so I just want you to know I want to just use the word passion just really quick because sometimes when people talk about my passion, sometimes I'm a little bit offended by the fact that they're calling me passionate because you know Latinas are a little spicy. But I also know how important it is to bring your full self into any space and to sometimes speak with the level of rage that we're carrying into these spaces. and not to leave that on the door to be watered down so that we can be a little bit more digestible for people. So I just want to say thank you for telling it like it is and bringing it like it is here. Because we need to feel that. Not just to hear it, but we need to feel it.

And the people who are not here, right, who are tuning in, can also feel it. Because there is an all-out attack and assault on this community right now. And the reason why they're getting away with it, or at least trying to, is because when you look at the immigrant community and when you look at the trans community and when you look at the LGBTQ plus IA2 spirited community, it is the most vulnerable communities that get it first. because we are the training grounds for that. And I want to underscore the training ground for that because the attacks on all of our civil liberties are on the table right now. And so the assault is the first line of defense, which is right here. And I think what this council has an opportunity to do is to stand in that and to

Hold it down and to utilize our microphones to really uplift and amplify your stories, right? And to utilize this chamber for legislative action. Because what we don't want and what we don't need is more lip service. What this moment is calling for is swift action. On the local level, because that is where it's at right now. Because while all these folks are here on the federal level, blah, blah, blah, blah-ing all over the place, it is the people who live right here in the city of Boston that are feeling that impact And we have an opportunity to do something about it, which is why I'm really excited to join you all in this fight. Because I like to fight. I don't know if y'all know that. I like it. I grew up fighting. And that's just my... Posture. I am a fighter.

I've had to fight for every single crumb that I've gotten. So I know what it's like to be you right now. And right now, You're fighting for your lives. You're fighting for your dignity. And you're fighting for your freedoms to express yourself fully. And so I'm here for all of that. So I do have one or two questions before I get buzzed. So we're working. And thank you to everyone here for your leadership on the ordinance that we hope to pass on the 19th. That is the goal. And we've been working on it for a long time. So I want to thank you all for pushing back. and holding us accountable when we first filed the resolution and I hope that you know that we were serious about doing the people's business and so we hope that the ordinance that gets passed becomes At least a tool that we could use in this line of defense.

And so I'd like to know, and if anyone, Braham, I said it right? Oh my God, so proud of myself. If you could talk to me a little bit about what models or policies from other cities and states could Boston look to as examples for protecting online access and privacy for marginalized communities. And I'm not gonna say marginalized, I'm gonna say resilient. because there is nothing at risk about us. There's nothing marginalized about us. So I'm gonna update the language and to say for resilient communities, okay?

I respect that a lot because the marginalized world always triggered me. I always say we're such a powerful community. Our power is so threatening to the status quo that it comes for us again and again. I appreciate that. In terms of other cities, I do think Boston has the opportunity here to be a leader in many things. Like Boston can be the leader in building those coalitions I heard there is a whole innovation task force here. I'm pretty involved in the innovation sector. I never heard about it. I know there was the person here who was chief innovation officer. They were working on some really cool projects, but I don't think they were integrated into a lot of other communities. They didn't tap into the full potential of the community they could tap into to really informed their research, their data, and then make those policies. They could have reached out to those groups. to done that.

We need to queer this whole group in general to make an impact. And I think when they do that, the results will get better too when they will have those voices in the room. Let's say if they're writing a program or something, They will have people who are writing test cases that, oh, is your algorithm passing this particular test case? No. I bet you engineers, when they work, they don't think about trans community. They're not intentional about the intersectionality, so they're not having the impact. And even if, let's say they have the intention, Intention doesn't always lead to impact, which is why, like, my startup, II Labs, I have the methodology III, which helps leaders to build that intentionality and create tangible We need to use frameworks to measure that impact, especially people who are working in tech and social justice, because tech without ethics can be a tool for oppression, can be a tool for digital colonialism, and we need to better

work on number one, addressing some of these redistribution efforts that we are doing and not like pat each other back that everybody's doing great from state to city to nonprofit innovation sector.

No, thank you for that, and I heard the buzzer.

Chair. Do you have a follow-up?

Sure. I always have a follow-up. But I also know that I don't want to hold you all hostage here any longer because I don't want y'all mad at me. But I am very curious. And I think that these opportunities allow us to better understand. And I think what is the most important part of hearings is that we get things on the record and these are official statements that are being made that we can do a rewind and review and revisit and so that's why it's really important for us to sees our time with folks, especially those who I always say who are living the realities have the best solutions in terms of what we need to be doing. So thank you. I am just really curious. I just wanted to say two things. One is that we're very good at working in silos, and we're very good at otherizing people. We're the masters of that. And so what happens is that We end up in situations where we're doing things to check the box office.

Okay, so this is MOLA and all things that deal with LGBTQ plus goes to this department when in fact every city department should be responsible for this conversation. And I think that I'd love to hear a little bit more from anyone here about how we stop, how do we deconstruct power, right? Because there's a lot of power building here. and siloing the community to just one space. Like, what would this look like? Not just MOLA, because right now we invited MOLA, which is great. They are the department in charge of this particular community, but I'm just curious. I know BHA, the Boston Public Health Commission, How do we get beyond the check in the box and this is where it lands? How can we expand the pie? I don't know if that makes sense.

I know there's... Well, I would say the first thing to do when you're deconstructing power is simply through collaborative efforts because we have so many different intersecting identities. Collaborative efforts is really how we're going to make any change. And then that can be broken down into its own capacities whatever is feeling best but that takes a discussion and again collaborative efforts so everybody has a voice as much as possible and through that we can have a greater discussion.

We'll give you a mic.

Hold up. Wait a minute. There you go.

I would also say, though, it is about operational systems that you already have in place. IT is incorporated in every aspect of the city. You have policies that every single city employee abides by. I think by introducing You know, more ordinances that every employee in every office is going to abide by. And so a certain standard and codes of conduct that they are going to abide by and to encourage that. You really already have systems in place that you look at different areas, but you just apply that when it comes to equity and equity when it comes to the queer community.

Well, I don't want to get in trouble. You want to say something? You're going to have to talk to the big boss over there.

I have one very brief comment if I can.

Sure. So two more comments. You have a new start.

Yeah, I was just going to quickly say, you know, I think we've heard from a bunch, especially we were hearing from the administration earlier about all these great resources that exist. And then we're also hearing from folks on our panel like I didn't even know that that existed. And I do just want to point out that. You know, while some of the legislation that we're talking about actually explicitly exempts nonprofits or municipal websites, so for example, The resources that Mola was talking about on boston.gov are not technically themselves covered by the Kids Online Safety Act, for example. But how does anyone find those resources? How many people actually go to boston.gov and poke around to find an LGBTQ resource? Very few. People find them because of an Instagram post or because of a post in their Discord chat. or because of a TikTok video from a queer activist in Boston. Those platforms are all covered by these federal proposed laws.

And if no one can find out about the resources that MOLA is offering, Those resources are not helping youth in our community. Those resources are not helping trans elders in our community. And so I just think it's important that that's a specific distinction and why I think this resolution that we have in front of us is very powerful. Because these laws have a direct impact on the resources that the city of Boston is trying to provide and many more. The city itself actually has a vested interest in ensuring that these resources that we're pouring our tax dollars into aren't getting suppressed by big tech companies because they're trying to and many more. So I just wanted to really specifically say why I think the city council here actually does have some skin in this game even though we're talking about federal policy because it directly affects The resources that our city is offering to people in our community.

I also want to just mention that we need to look into other leadership models, indigenous, decolonized leadership models. And the reason I'm saying that, I'm going to get a lot in trouble for saying it. It's queers against censorship, right? So I can't censor myself. There are literally people dying. I at least know three people in Boston who are suicidal. All three of them are black trans women. And despite knowing every single trans organization, despite having a Boston or government email, I cannot help them many times. And this is a life and death situation, so I'm going to say it. I'm probably not going to have a Boston government email after this, and that's okay. Here's the thing, when I applied for a full-time role in Boston, and I love MOLA, I love Moya, Mayor's Office of Immigrant Advancement, I'm so happy they exist because a lot of cities don't have this

And I'm saying that as, you know, who love them and who has a love for the community, because protest is an act of love. When I applied for a full-time job, They gave me a fellowship and let me tell you my experience. It's pretty impressive. I joined from running global startup acceleration programs across Japan, Tanzania, Taiwan, Training thousands of entrepreneurs, building global geographies, in terms of innovation ecosystem. Moya is like his fellowship, right? I was so surprised the lack of collaboration to this extent that two departments, two beautiful departments, sit under the same building but haven't collaborated. So I hosted their first ever LGBTQ immigrant forum, uniting different communities. Boston became one of the six cities in the world

to receive 500,000 grand that I applied for and built a proposal for MMC. But all of that came for what? Under my unpaid and underpaid labor. because my own communities did not see my talent. My own communities put me in a box. My own communities put me into a very tiny, tiny box and did not see the qualification. I mean, I don't know what I need to do. I have certification in product management. I'm getting a new certification this year. Even if I have a PhD, because I wear heels, because I wear makeup, People are not willing to unlearn their bias. And I'm gonna wrap it up by saying, in whiteness studies, we have a pyramid called the genocide pyramid, where certain acts were normalized leads to mass violence. So I have this adaptive version of the genocide pyramid for trans and queer deaths because when certain

Certain actions, like the one I mentioned, which actually is in the mid area, when certain actions are normalized in the base layer, they lead to mass violence against certain communities. So, we are normalizing this while being a very progressive institution and I think it's okay to call in and call out our community because at the end, I am serving my community, they are serving, and we all are one community. So, and that should just explain you the things we need to work on as a system. Thank you.

Now, I appreciate that and I know that I'm overextending my privilege here speaking even longer than what I was allotted. And I just want to affirm how difficult it is to just be, period. Full stop, just be. And I know that in this institution that we are navigating in, that you have to show up as you are and push against the grain because it should not be a society in which you get to pick and choose who you want to work with. Everyone deserves a seat at the table, a voice, and an opportunity to build Collaboratively, regardless of whether or not people like you or not, right? And so I am here for all of it, and I look forward to learning more from you. And thank you all for bringing your full self into this space. Thank you.

Okay, thank you, Councilor Mejia. Do you have anything? No? Okay, well, so I'm just going to say a couple words and then we'll wrap this up. You know, I want to thank Santana, everyone here and Councilor Santana for having this hearing today. We're living in this world where it's almost Thank you. Thank you. I feel like I know all about Marsha Blackburn. When I started out practicing law, I represented migrant farmworkers in the South. I lived in Nashville. She was a young House of Representatives Congresswoman, and she had a hearing on

How much paying for healthcare for undocumented people in Tennessee was costing taxpayers? And the head of the Vanderbilt Medical Center got up and said, Actually, undocumented folks, it doesn't cost us that much. They're coming in to give birth, essentially. The big thing is uninsured Americans. And she's like, please give me the next group. And then a state health care official said, yeah, we agree. It's really uninsured Americans. Those are the biggest costs of the state. But, I mean, just fast forward to now. It's like finding a group of people and going after them and hoping that that gets you more support and more power. is something I know all my colleagues resist and hear. You know, whether it's immigrants, whether it's the trans community, refugees, people who just need SNAP benefits, I feel like we're

all under attack and so I thank you for highlighting this and I think we'll all work on this together with you and figuring out ways we can help push back and You know, stand by our neighbors and our friends in Boston. So, I don't know, there's a script somewhere in here that I'm supposed to say to wrap this up. But I want to thank everyone for coming. If I don't say the magic words, we can't leave. So I just, again, acknowledge the sponsor, Henry Santana and his office for doing this. Oh, I'm supposed to, do we have public testimony? So apparently not. I don't want to silence anybody. So I want to thank my colleagues for being here. And I'd like to thank our staff, Shane, Ethan's operating the cameras in the back.

for working on this. So this hearing on docket number 1670 is now adjourned.

Thank you.