Corey Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Member of the New York City Council from the 3rd District | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Christine Quinn |
| Constituency | Manhattan: Chelsea, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Hell's Kitchen, and parts of Midtown |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 28, 1982 Beverly, Massachusetts |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence(s) | Chelsea, New York City, USA |
| Occupation | Government official, LGBT activist, community organizer |
| Website | http://www.council.nyc.gov/d3/html/members/home.shtml |
Corey Johnson (born April 28, 1982) is the Council Member of the 3rd Council District in New York City Council, which includes the West Village, Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen neighborhoods. Corey has been a long time community and LGBT rights activist. Corey received national attention for coming out gay in 2000 as captain of his high school football team at Masconomet Regional High School.
Before assuming office, Corey was the Chairperson of Community Board 4. His work on the board ranged from negotiating permanent affordable housing for residents to securing educational scholarships for children. Corey has also worked in the real estate industry, and was the political editor for Towleroad.[1]
Johnson was elected in November of 2013 with 86% of the vote and assumed office on January 1, 2014.
The New York Times endorsed Corey for City Council in 2013, saying "[Corey] has helped tenants faced with eviction by landlords who wanted to raise rents. He has been involved in bringing public schools to the neighborhood and fought to scale back growth in commercial developments that threatened to overwhelm the area."[1]
Councilmember Johnson is Chair of New York City Council’s Health Committee, and also serves on the Contracts, Finance, General Welfare, Waterfronts and Mental Health, Developmental Disability, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse and Disability Services committees. Johnson is also Co-Chair of the Manhattan Delegation with Council Member Margaret Chin and is a member of the LGBT Caucus and Progressive Caucus.
Johnson's first bill to pass City Council was in November of 2014. The bill provides easier access to shelter for survivors of domestic violence.
In 2014, Corey introduced legislation that would ease the requirements for individuals to change their gender on their birth certificates in New York City. [2] On December 8, 2014, City Council passed the bill, making the city’s policy one of the most liberal in the country. [3]
Born in Beverly, Massachusetts, Johnson attended Masconomet Regional High School while living in Middleton, Massachusetts.[2] Corey became a vocal LGBT rights activist after gaining national attention for coming out as gay while captain of his high school football team.
National attention included an ABC News Special by Anderson Cooper in June of 2000. In the Interview, Corey Johnson talked about how he was made sick by the whole situation, whether he should break his silence of his sexual orientation or not. The issue caused his grades to drop, and his emotions to drop even further. The situation sent him into alienation and depression as the young teen fought with it inside himself.[3] He feared that he would be ostracized, criticized, and made fun of by his teammates for being gay. This fear became a reality to Johnson when the only other gay athlete he knew of, Greg Condon, was tortured and ridiculed by his teammates until he quit the team.[2]
Johnson first came out to his guidance counselor, Connie Mosher and his biology teacher Tammy Due stating that he was bisexual. It wasn’t a complete emotional relief, as Johnson started to feel progressively better day to day. Not long after him telling his teachers, Johnson came out to his mother who was extremely worried for his well-being before Johnson broke the news.[2] Going against the advice of his guidance counselor, mother, and principal, Johnson broke the news to his teammates. On April 8th, 1999 Johnson broke the news to some of the juniors on the team, and then eventually the whole team.[4]
Johnson played a huge role in fighting for equal rights among the gay community, speaking at rallies, meetings, and even a march held in Washington DC in front of thousands of people. Johnson had transformed into a political keystone fighting for gay rights, but after it was all said and done, Johnson didn’t want to just settle for that. “I didn’t want to be known as the gay football player,” and he wasn’t. He ran for New York City Council and beat out 3 other candidates for the spot.[2]
He came out in 2013 as HIV-positive.[5] It was his activism that brought him into politics and New York City government: Corey was a contributor and the political editor for Towleroad and joined Manhattan Community Board 4 (CB4) in 2005 at the age of 23. After six years of volunteering for CB4, Corey was elected to be Chair of the community board.
Johnson currently lives in Chelsea, where he has been a resident for over a decade.
In 2013, Corey was arrested for protesting against the Spectra pipeline and hydrofracking. [4]
