Gay Dutch prime minister & Zohran Mamdani visit LGBTQ+ archive — and hear from young New Yorkers it serves

Rob Jetten, the gay prime minister of the Netherlands, met with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday afternoon for a visit to a historic LGBTQ+ archive and community center in Manhattan. The Advocate was invited to tag along.

Jetten, the nation’s youngest and first out gay prime minister, is currently visiting New York for the United Nations General Assembly. He has also made visiting LGBTQ+ cultural institutions a visible part of his trip. Earlier this week, Jetten stopped by the Stonewall Inn, which is widely regarded as the birthplace of the gay rights movement.

Mamdani’s office reached out to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center about meeting with Jetten on the center's campus, its leadership team told The Advocate.

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani greets the leadership team at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. Jack Walker/The Advocate

The two met briefly outside the center, then went to a library inside. There, Jetten and Mamdani sat down to learn about the center’s archive of historic LGBTQ+ materials and meet young people involved in the center’s programming.

Jetten praised the archive’s work and likened it to efforts to document LGBTQ+ history in museum exhibitions in Holland. “It’s all about celebrating the diversity for the community, but also explaining to all the visitors that so much work still has to be done all around the globe,” he said.

Youth participants shared examples of artwork and zines they made at the center, which were entered into its archive for long-term keeping. They widely agreed that resources from the center, shared with other young LGBTQ+ people, have positively impacted their lives.

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Prime Minister of the Netherlands Rob Jetten, who is gay, visits the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center on Sept. 24, 2026. Jack Walker/The Advocate.

“It’s a really beautiful thing to hear all of you speak about the importance of this place, having created a community in this center,” Mamdani told the young people assembled.

CEO Carla Smith said she was thankful the Mamdani administration recognized the center as a cultural institution worth showing to the prime minister. “This is a place that many people from around the world come to when they want to explore LGBT [history],” she told The Advocate.

Jetten and Mamdani were also joined by Taylor Brown, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, and Ana Maria Archila, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs.

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Taylor Brown, director of the New York City Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Prime Minister Rob Jetten pose with archive staff and youth participants. Jack Walker/The Advocate

Giving the center’s work a platform is “more important now than ever, with what’s going on in the world,” Smith said.

Jaylynn Gaston, a 19-year-old from the Bronx, was one of the center’s youth participants who got to share their artwork with Jetten and Mamdani. Gaston shared a collage of photographs that they shot.

“It was a little nerve-wracking, but I'm so glad they came and looked at it,” Gaston told The Advocate after the event. “It was just really exciting.”

Gaston said they have benefited from a variety of programs at the center, from job readiness resources to health care guidance to an annual summer camp for LGBTQ+ young people.

“It’s really empowering to be with my community and also have resources. Since I’m here, I’m also getting resources to help me in my life,” Gaston said. “Sharing that with the mayor and the prime minister of the Netherlands is really imperative, because it’s life-saving to have a space [like this].”

From left: Taylor Brown, director of the New York City Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, Ana Maria Archila, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs, and Dr. Carla Smith, CEO of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York City. Jack Walker/The Advocate

Lou McCarthy, an archivist at the center, told The Advocate that the visit fit into the center’s broader effort to share LGBTQ+ history with others.

“It felt special. At the same time, it felt a little bit like what I do every day, which is just to advocate for all of the beautiful collections that we have here at the archive,” McCarthy said. “It truly is a community effort.”