The UFT Pride Committee convened its first panel on the state of the LGBTQ+ community, focusing on the challenges facing New Yorkers — including educators — amid the rollback of LGBTQ+ rights under President Donald Trump. “I cannot stand by and do nothing,” said UFT Pride Committee co-Chairperson Rashad Brown. “I have to be there for not only my trans siblings but also all other LGBTQ+ members as we lose protections left and right.” The Oct. 16 event, held in person at UFT headquarters and online, drew about 50 participants. Panelists included NYSUT President Melinda Person, state and city lawmakers, a theater artist and members of the NYPD’s LGBTQIA+ Outreach Unit. They fielded questions about the long-term struggle for equality and recent federal attacks on LGBTQ+ educators and students. Sarah Elshafie, a 6th-grade teacher at MS 377 in Manhattan, reflected on the need for more spaces like this one. “The LGBT community is being used as a scapegoat for political ends right now,” she said. “As union members, we have a responsibility to stand up for what’s right.”