NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A rally at Union Square Park in Manhattan on Saturday drew crowds of children, parents and advocates for transgender youth after President Donald Trump’s executive order banning gender-affirming care for adolescents impacted access for patients in New York City.
Trump’s executive order, issued on Jan. 28, seeks to end gender-affirming healthcare for children and teenagers under 19 and threatens withholding federal funding for systems that persist. After it was signed, reports began circulating that major NYC healthcare providers—including NYU Langone Health and Mount Sinai—were canceling appointments for transgender youth.
ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio stood in front of the crowd—which was chanting “trans rights are human rights”—and said that the fight for transgender healthcare has been advancing in the courts.
“Right now we are at the United States Supreme Court to say that the Constitution protects trans people, just as it protects all people, and we are going to continue that fight,” Strangio said.
The ACLU will be in court this coming week to take on this issue with the Trump administration.
On Monday, New York Attorney General Letitia James told hospitals that they would be in violation of state anti-discrimination laws if they stopped offering gender-affirming care for adolescents.
“Regardless of the availability of federal funding, we write to further remind you of your obligations to comply with New York State laws,” James wrote in a letter.
Saturday’s “Rise Up for Trans Youth” rally was organized by Trans formative Schools, Gender Liberation Movement and ACT UP NY, and one after another, parents of school-age transgender youth took to the podium to speak out.
Samantha took her time to reflect on the positive impacts of gender-affirming care on her daughter.
“My daughter has been thriving because of the gender-affirming care she received at NYU Langone,” Samantha said. “She is confident, self-assured, and feels like her true authentic self, the person she knows she truly is.”
Mira, whose 6-year-old child is transgender, said that kids need to know that monsters can be defeated.
“Our kids are on the front lines of the great battles of our time, the battles for reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, the battles for healthcare and for freedom of speech,” she said. “They are what stands between us and the monsters.”
A spokesperson for the Greater New York Hospital Association said they were in close contact with member hospitals about the gender-affirming care executive order, and the situation is ongoing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.