Well the month is Pride, the energy is electric and the street...is gay.
The historic and popular Gay Street and Christopher Street in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan was renamed "Acceptance Street" Monday morning.
The all-inclusive street sign installation was championed by the New York City Commission on Human Rights and was underwritten by Mastercard.
The moment we’ve all been waiting for! Check out the new Acceptance Street #AcceptanceMatters pic.twitter.com/uUy25N92k0
— NYC Human Rights (@NYCCHR) June 17, 2019
The core message? No matter who or how you love, you are welcome here on "Acceptance Street," representative of all walks of life.
The installation will remain through Pride Month, which is entire month of June.
With New York as the host city for WorldPride this year, organizers and underwriters told ABC they are actively working to understand how they can make the installation a permanent symbol for the community.
NEW: The historic and popular Gay Street in NYC is now #AcceptanceStreet, after a moving unveiling this morning in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan for #PrideMonth in partnership with @NYCCHR & @NYC_DOT...
— Good Morning America (@GMA) June 17, 2019
MORE: https://t.co/A3Z1iOHtkC#AcceptanceMatters #Pride pic.twitter.com/Nf5UrIgCC3
Mastercard also announced this morning that they soon allow transgender people to use their chosen names on credit and debit cards in an effort to combat discrimination at the cash register.
That means that the name on the credit card owned by a transgender person could be different than that found on their birth certificate or driver's license.
In a report by the Associated Press, it is up to the banks that issue the cards to actually implement the change and on Monday, Mastercard called on those banks to do so.
No matter how big the community grows, there’s room for everyone, because #AcceptanceMatters. In partnership with @NYCCHR, we added these new signs to the corner of Christopher & Gay St. in NYC. #StartSomethingPriceless pic.twitter.com/QH8gWX0gjC
— Mastercard (@Mastercard) June 17, 2019
Three states — Tennessee, Kansas and Ohio — legally bar a transgender person from changing the sex listed on their birth certificate, according to Out Leadership, a LGBT rights organization that focuses on advocacy at the corporate level. This can create confusion when a person uses one name to reflect their identity, but may have a different name legally.
A 2015 study showed that 32% of transgender people who had to show an ID with a name or gender that did not match their presentation experienced harassment, were denied services or were attacked, according to the AP.
The company is said to be taking this year to work on verification means while maintaining privacy and security ahead of the release of their “True Name Initiative” as they call it.
