Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Diana Ayala for NY Assembly District 68
Candidate Name: Diana Ayala
Office Seeking Election for: NY Assembly District 68
1. Based upon your life experiences and accomplishments, why do you believe you are best qualified to represent your district?
I am best qualified to represent my district because I have proven that progressive values can translate into real, material change for working people. As Deputy Speaker of the New York City Council, I didn’t just talk about housing justice, I delivered it. I authored and passed legislation eliminating the shelter residency requirement for rental assistance, allowing families to access CityFHEPS vouchers before entering shelter and preventing homelessness in the first place. I strengthened protections for voucher holders against source-of-income discrimination, helping families actually use the assistance they qualify for. These reforms are about keeping people housed.
I also led legislation expanding access to mental health and substance use treatment for vulnerable New Yorkers, including transgender and gender non-conforming individuals in city custody. I have fought to secure funding for supportive housing, immigrant services, and community-based organizations that serve working families.
I have helped negotiate budgets and move legislation that centers the needs of low-income New Yorkers, tenants, immigrants, and communities of color.
2. What LGBTQ+ organizations have you been involved with, either on a volunteer basis or professionally?
I have worked closely with LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations, community-based service providers, and LGBTQ+ Democratic clubs throughout my public service. In the City Council, I sponsored and passed Local Laws 150 and 151 of 2019 (Intro 1513 and 1514), which expanded access to gender-affirming mental health and substance use treatment services for transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming, and intersex individuals in city custody. These laws were specifically designed to ensure culturally competent and medically appropriate care. I have also supported full funding for LGBTQ+ community centers, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs, and housing initiatives serving LGBTQ+ youth and seniors.
3. What press conferences, demonstrations, rallies and protests in support of LGBTQ+ issues, pro-choice legislation, racial justice, criminal justice have you attended, including rallies specifically against Donald Trump and his policies?
I have participated in NYC Pride events and Trans Day of Visibility actions, rallies defending reproductive freedom, and demonstrations supporting racial justice and criminal justice reform.
I stood publicly against the transgender military ban, efforts to roll back nondiscrimination protections in healthcare, and attacks on immigrant communities. I joined colleagues and advocates in opposing federal policies that sought to weaken Title IX protections, undermine asylum protections, and erode reproductive rights.
Beyond demonstrations, I believe our strongest protest is policy. I supported New York’s Reproductive Health Act and the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), and I have consistently backed local legislation expanding protections for transgender New Yorkers in housing, healthcare, and city services.
4. In light of the Trump Administration’s war on women, the LGBTQ+ community, minorities and immigrants, what are your plans to organize and combat the Trump agenda?
As an Assemblymember, I will work to expand and fortify New York’s shield laws to fully protect abortion providers, patients, and gender-affirming care providers from out-of-state prosecution. I support explicitly codifying protections for transgender and non-binary youth in healthcare and schools, and ensuring Medicaid fully covers gender-affirming care without bureaucratic barriers. I will push to strengthen enforcement of our Human Rights Law so discrimination against LGBTQ+ New Yorkers carries real consequences. And I will fight to secure permanent state funding for reproductive healthcare, HIV prevention, and LGBTQ+ community organizations so those services cannot be destabilized by federal retaliation.
5. Will you seek or accept endorsements from individuals who oppose LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights?
Never
6. Do you support the unrestricted right to reproductive care and abortion?
Yes
7. Have you hosted, funded or otherwise supported Drag Story Hours in your community?
Yes
8. How will you work to enhance protections for immigrants and uphold New York’s role as a “Sanctuary City”?
To enhance protections for immigrants and uphold New York’s sanctuary values, I will actively support and help advance key state legislation in Albany that strengthens our ability to shield immigrant communities from federal overreach and discrimination:
I support the New York for All Act (S.2235/A.3506), which would bar state and local agencies from questioning or disclosing an individual’s immigration status, from colluding with federal immigration enforcement, and from diverting local resources to deportation efforts. This bill is a cornerstone of broader sanctuary protections in New York.
I back the Access to Representation Act (S.141/A.270) to establish a fundamental right to legal counsel for immigrants in removal proceedings in New York, ensuring people have a fighting chance in immigration court.
I also support the BUILD Act (S.4538/A.2689), which would provide workforce development and capacity-building grants to organizations expanding access to legal representation for people facing deportation.
9. Do you support New York becoming a Transgender Sanctuary State?
Yes
10. If elected, will you commit to supporting legislation that raises taxes on the richest New Yorkers and large corporations in order to fund the services and investments our communities need?
Yes
11. How will you represent the most vulnerable, including individuals experiencing homelessness and asylum seekers? Have you ever opposed any shelter in your district?
I have consistently worked to remove barriers that keep people trapped in homelessness and to strengthen the systems that move families into permanent housing.
I authored Int. 0878-2023, which eliminated the requirement that someone must first enter shelter in order to qualify for a rental assistance voucher — a common-sense reform that allows families at risk of homelessness to secure housing before entering crisis. I also sponsored Int. 1339-2019, which requires the City to provide clear information to applicants about their rights under the CityFHEPS program and protections against source-of-income discrimination.
CityFHEPS is New York City’s primary rental assistance program for families facing eviction or homelessness. Strengthening and expanding this program is critical because rental subsidies are one of the most effective tools we have to prevent shelter entry and move people into stable housing.
During the recent asylum seeker response, I sponsored legislation requiring greater transparency and reporting on how resources are being allocated, and legislation requiring navigation services for families entering shelter so they are not left to navigate complex systems alone.
I have not opposed shelters in my district. I believe every community must do its fair share. My focus has always been on ensuring shelters are properly resourced, responsibly sited, and paired with a clear pathway to permanent housing.
12. Will you sponsor and support legislation which will ensure that state and local resources are not used to facilitate or cooperate with federal immigration enforcement (New York for All Act) to prevent the funneling of people into ICE custody, and the sharing of sensitive information with ICE?
Yes, see my answer to question 8 above.
13. To advance safety and justice, New York must address our archaic sentencing and parole laws. Do you support the following key legislation: 1) Second Look Act (S.158/A.1283), which would allow judges to review and reconsider excessive sentences by considering if incarcerated people have transformed while incarcerated or based on changes in law and norms; 2) Earned Time Act (S.342/A.1085), which would strengthen and expand “good time” and “merit time” programs in prison that encourage personal transformation and reunite families?; 3) Marvin Mayfield Act (S.1209/A.1297), which would eliminate mandatory minimum sentences, thereby allowing judges to consider individual factors in a case?; 4) Elder Parole (S.454/A.514), which would allow incarcerated people over age 55 who have served 15 years the opportunity to go before the parole board?
Yes, I support them all.
14. Do you oppose the death penalty?
Yes
15. Do you support outlawing solitary confinement?
Yes
16. Do you commit to visit constituents who are incarcerated? Will you work to secure the release of individuals who have demonstrated sincere remorse, worked toward rehabilitation and are not deemed a threat to society?
Yes, definitely
17. Do you commit to make applications for clemencies available to your constituency including a link to an application in a constituent newsletter? Will you submit it to our club?
Yes
18. Did you rank Andrew Cuomo on your Democratic primary ballot in 2025? Who did you support for mayor in the 2025 Democratic primary and general election?
No, I did not rank Andrew Cuomo. I supported Zohran Mamdani in the general election.
19. In view of the fact that Ed Koch has been documented to have caused the deaths of scores of people with AIDS, excused city council members who voted against the gay rights bill and was blatantly racist, would you support and sponsor a bill to rename the former Queensboro Bridge?
Yes
20. What is your legislative remedy to secure the building of low and moderate-income housing around the state?
New York cannot tax-credit its way out of the housing crisis. We need structural reform and large-scale public investment.
First, while 485-x replaced 421-a, it is only one tool. Tax incentives must require deeper affordability, stronger labor standards, and meaningful mixed-income outcomes. If we are offering public subsidies, the public should receive permanent affordability in return.
I believe we need a modernized, statewide Mitchell-Lama 2.0 program. The original Mitchell-Lama program created tens of thousands of stable, middle-class homes. We should revive that model with updated financing tools, state bonding authority, and nonprofit/public development partnerships that guarantee long-term affordability rather than 30-year sunsets.
Additionally, the state must take a more assertive role in ensuring housing production. That includes transit-oriented development mandates, expanding Housing Finance Agency bonding capacity, investing in social housing models, and dedicating capital funding to acquire distressed properties and convert them into permanently affordable housing.
21. Will you refuse donations from AIPAC, SolidarityPAC, police and corrections associations, the fossil fuel industry, and the charter school industry?
Yes
22. Do you support removing criminal penalties for consensual commercial sex work between adults? Also known as Cecilia's Act for Rights in the Sex Trades (S2513 Salazar / A3251 Forrest).
Yes
23. There is an effort to have mandatory inclusion of the New York State proposal that would require public schools to teach about the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, commonly described in the bill text as an “insurrection.” Do you support this proposal?
Yes
24. What additional information would you like the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club to consider when we are making our endorsement decision?
25. If you receive our endorsement, do you agree to identify the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club on all appropriate literature and electronic materials? Yes