“They don’t care about what they do to us.'
, filed in June 2018 to New York’s Supreme Court, describing her time at Marsha’s House as “a nightmare:”
The recipient of the messages told NBC News the exchange was “very weird and uncomfortable” and noted that her Plenty of Fish profile identified her as a lesbian. She asked that her name not be published because she doesn’t want her stay at Marsha’s House to become public. In spring 2019, Mariah Lopez reached confidential settlements with QPS and Project Renewal. When asked about Lopez’s suit and other allegations from former residents and staff at Marsha’s House, QPS did not respond, and Project Renewal denied any knowledge of the alleged misconduct.
“Clients would report that the guards were constantly gawking and staring at them, and I kind of caught a couple of them doing it, too,” Perez told NBC News. “The security guards that they were hiring were cisgender heterosexual folks, most of them not necessarily from this country, and they did not understand or respect LGBTQ identities.”
“He’s like, ‘Come on, let me take a look.’ And I said, ‘No, I’m good,’” Rinehults recalled. “He tried reaching for me, like reaching out to grab me, and I hit him in his mouth.” “It’s almost as if my concerns would go in one ear and out the other, because they would just allow them to stay,” said Perez, who lacked the authority to fire guards herself.
SERA did not respond to NBC News’ requests for comment, and Winfield declined to comment. Project Renewal said in a statement that Marsha’s House has provided quarterly sensitivity training to all staff, including security, since the shelter opened.The current Marsha’s House director, Jacqueline Luna, took over last January. Luna said she had not received any reports of guards requesting sexual favors and was unfamiliar with the allegations against Grinnell.
Diamond Wynn, a former housing specialist and case manager, described Marsha’s House as “an extremely difficult place to be, whether you’re a client or a staff member.”