{"id":122812,"date":"2020-11-30T00:38:01","date_gmt":"2020-11-29T21:38:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/elisa-crespo-vies-to-become-first-trans-member-of-nyc-council\/"},"modified":"2020-11-30T00:38:01","modified_gmt":"2020-11-29T21:38:01","slug":"elisa-crespo-vies-to-become-first-trans-member-of-nyc-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/elisa-crespo-vies-to-become-first-trans-member-of-nyc-council\/","title":{"rendered":"#Elisa Crespo vies to become first trans member of NYC Council"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Elisa Crespo vies to become first trans member of NYC Council<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n An ex-prostitute who was busted in a police sting is running to become the first trans woman on the City Council \u2014 representing the heart of the Bronx.<\/p>\n

Elisa Crespo, 30, is one of the candidates seeking to succeed outgoing Councilman Ritchie Torres in the 15th council district \u2014 representing Belmont, Fordham, Tremont, Mount Hope, Allerton, Van Nest, West Farms, and Bedford Park.<\/p>\n

Torres \u2014 the first openly gay person to get elected in the borough \u2014 is vacating the seat in January after getting elected to Congress. A special election to replace him is expected to take place in March.<\/p>\n

Crespo\u2019s candidacy is a remarkable comeback story.<\/p>\n

Crespo was arrested in Jacksonville, Fla. on November 14, 2012 after posting a sex\/escort ad on the internet.<\/p>\n

As it turned out, the two men showed up at her hotel room for oral sex were undercover cops in the Jacksonville police vice squad, who arrested her for prostitution.<\/p>\n

Far from running away from her past, Crespo is addressing her work as a \u201csurvival sex worker\u201d head-on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am no longer engaged in sex work,\u201d she told The Post.<\/p>\n

Crespo, who transitioned to female at the age of 15, said getting arrested and spending time in jail was a low point that triggered a turnaround in her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in a complicated struggle to make ends meet. A lack of job opportunities for trans women of color led me to sex work. Through this experience I wound up in Florida, where I was arrested and incarcerated with cisgender men. That moment transformed my life forever. It helped me begin my journey in civic engagement,\u201d Crespo said during a recent political rally.<\/p>\n

Crespo went back to school and earned a degree in political science<\/a> from CUNY\u2019s John Jay College, interned with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) and currently serves as an education aide to Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.<\/p>\n

She told The Post she\u2019s concerned that critics or rivals are attempting to \u201cweaponize transphobia\u201d by dredging up her arrest.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s shameful. People are upset at the momentum my campaign is getting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Elisa
Elisa Crespo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Crespo, a dues-paying member of the Democratic Social<\/a>ist of America\u2019s Bronx chapter, told The Post she supports state legislation to decriminalize prostitution \u2014 by no longer punishing paid sex between two consulting adults.<\/p>\n

\u201cSex work is work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Crespo said she turned tricks to support her mother \u2014 who was in an abusive relationship \u2014 as well as herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an unfortunate fact that trans woman and sex work go hand in hand,\u201d Crespo said during an interview with empoweredtranswoman.com<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not something I wanted to do. It\u2019s dangerous. We\u2019re putting ourselves in front of strangers that we don\u2019t know who can harm us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crespo said many trans woman don\u2019t escape the life of sex work and wants to be a role model and trailblazer in politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel the very weight of my community on my shoulders. It\u2019s very important for me to show people we can do this. We\u2019re not defined by our past. If we want to get into the arena, we have the right to do it \u2014 and we can do it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping to inspire a new generation of people not only in The Bronx but across New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crespo said she\u2019s optimistic many Bronxites will be open to her candidacy but admitted there\u2019s are older, \u201csocially conservative\u201d residents who may have misgivings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see on Election Day,\u201d Crespo said.<\/p>\n

One prominent Bronx politico and LGBT trailblazer \u2014 Councilman and Congressman-elect Torres \u2014 said Crespo has a shot at succeeding him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe race of CD 15 has several serious candidates, and Elisa is certainly one of them,\u201d Torres said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy decisive election to Congress has shown that sexual orientation and gender identity are no longer insurmountable barriers to winning elected office in the Bronx.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allen Roskoff, president of the citywide Jim Owles LGBT Democratic Club said, \u201cElisa is a formidable candidate. She\u2019s running a great campaign. I think the world of her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Elisa
Elisa Crespo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is no shortage of competition for the seat. Other candidates include Ischia Bravo, district manager for Community Board 7 who was a former housing aide to outgoing Congressman Jose Serrano and executive director of the Bronx Democratic Party; Oswald Feliz of the Northwest Democrats for Change, Community Board 6 district manager John Sanchez; and Latchmi Gopal, a first generation Guyanese-American and Bronx DSA member who helps run Unemployed Workers United, among others.<\/p>\n

Catherine Hanssens, Founding Executive Director of The Center for HIV Law and Policy, expressed optimism about Crespo\u2019s candidacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cMs. Crespo\u2019s lived experience and obvious talent are exactly what we need to address overcriminalization and bias that limit employment, housing and education opportunities. It is thrilling to see a candidate with the courage to challenge the criminalization of sex work,\u201d Hanssens said.<\/p>\n

During an interview with The Post, Crespo emphasized that she has a policy agenda to aid the working class and poor residents of the Bronx\u2019s 15th CD and citywide.<\/p>\n

She said we should adopt an FDR-style infrastructure-jobs program to employ residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should have more vocational and trade schools,\u201d Crespo said.\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Elisa Crespo vies to become first trans member of NYC Council” An ex-prostitute who was busted in a police sting is running to become the first trans woman on the City Council \u2014 representing the heart of the Bronx. Elisa Crespo, 30, is one of the candidates seeking to succeed outgoing Councilman Ritchie Torres in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":122813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/11\/Elisa-Crespo-NYC-Council-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[82130,30242,70288,82187,70290],"class_list":["post-122812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-11-29-20","tag-city-council","tag-elections","tag-ritchie-torres","tag-transgender"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}