Elisa Crespo

Crespo was born in New York City, and raised in several boroughs of the city by her Puerto Rican mother.[2][3][4] During her childhood, her family relied on public benefits such as food stamps, Section 8, and Medicaid.[3][5] After she met other trans women and understood her own identity, she transitioned when she was 15.[3][2][6] She began sex work by age 16, and at 19 was diagnosed with HIV.[7] In November 2012, she was arrested for sex work.[8][9][10] She attended college for a year before dropping out, and later married and became convinced by her mother-in-law to return to school.[3]

After returning to college, she participated in student government, lobbied legislators in Albany, New York on issues related to higher education,[3] and was an organizer against City University of New York tuition increases.[10] During college, she was inspired to become politically active by her coursework and politicians including Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.[2][6] She graduated from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2019 with a Bachelor's degree in political science.[2][8]

From January through May 2019, Crespo interned with the Assembly Speaker, Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) and then interned for the New York City Council as a legislative intern until August 2019.[7][11] After her graduation, Crespo worked as the education liaison to the Bronx Borough President, Ruben Diaz Jr., with a focus on advocacy for special education students.[2][8][7]

In February 2020, Crespo decided to run for the 15th district in the 2021 New York City Council election.[2][3] During her campaign, she described her overall priority as moving people and the community from "generational poverty to generational wealth."[9] Specific campaign goals included the creation of more affordable housing, a "public option for employment," and more funding for public schools.[9][12] Crespo advocated for the creation of a government-funded apprenticeship program for unemployed New Yorkers to help develop skills and obtain full-time employment, inspired by the New Deal enacted by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[13] She also advocated for racial justice, criminal justice reforms, improvements in public health, and action to address climate change.[14][15][16]

In November 2020, the New York Post published an article about her with a headline calling her an "ex-prostitute."[2][8][9] In response, Crespo tweeted it was "shameful for anyone to weaponize transphobic victimization",[3] and that she previously "publicly talked about all of this".[8] Public officials, LGBTQ activists, and allies on social media also expressed support for her and the transgender community.[9][17][18] In March 2021, parts of the article were included on a flyer that questioned "sex work experience versus public service," and Crespo responded by promoting awareness of violence against trans people.[14][19]

Crespo was endorsed by the LGBTQ Victory Fund,[10] the New York Black Lives Caucus, the Bronx chapter of the Sunrise Movement, former New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito,[12] New York City Councilmembers Helen Rosenthal, Antonio Reynoso,[13] Ben Kallos, Jimmy Van Bramer, and Brad Lander, as well as New York State Senators Brad Hoylman,[9] Julia Salazar,[12] and Gustavo Rivera. The special election was held on March 23, 2021,[20][12] with Crespo eliminated in the eighth round of ranked-choice voting.[21] On April 6, 2021, Crespo announced she would not run in the Democratic primary in June.[22]

In July 2021, Crespo became the Executive Director of the New Pride Agenda, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, with a focus that includes LGBTQ youth, including advocacy for the Dignity for All Students Act to address anti-LGBTQ bullying; sex worker rights, including advocacy for the Stop Violence in the Sex Trades Act to decriminalize sex work; and advocacy for PrEP access expansion.[1][23]