Leila Bozorg is the Deputy Commissioner for Neighborhood Strategies at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Leila grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts in a tight-knit immigrant community, which her parents, who were former activists that moved to the U.S. from Iran, were an active part of. 

Bozorg’s identity as a queer person and the daughter of Iranian immigrants has profoundly influenced her approach to policy-making. “Growing up before queerness was widely accepted, particularly in Persian communities, I learned early on what it feels like to be on the margins,” she reflects.  

In August 2021, Molly Gaebe started hatching her plan to propose to her. She bought a rainbow fabric ring the next day and asked Boudoir LeFleur, one of the couple’s favorite drag queens, to be a part of the proposal. Halfway through Boudoir LeFleur’s show at Cherry’s on the Bay, a restaurant and venue on Fire Island, she called out in mock innocence: “Is Molly in the room?” “Leila joon,” Ms. Gaebe said onstage, using a Farsi endearment. When Ms. Bozorg joined her, Ms. Gaebe got down on one knee with the rainbow fabric ring she’d picked up that day from a local souvenir shop.

The couple were wed in front of 220 guests at Full Moon Resort in Big Indian. The wedding also incorporated some Persian traditions, including a “Sofreh Aghd.”