This weekend, thousands of people rallied for transgender (or trans), nonbinary, Two-Spirit, and gender nonconforming youth faced with appointment cancellations, and lags in prescription refills by leading New York City caregivers like NYU Langone, Mt. Sinai and New York Presbyterian, according to parents and families impacted.
The cancellations and medication refill lags are in direct correlation with the new administration’s executive orders attacking transgender youth and teens.
Many parents, youth, educators, and NYC activists who organized the protest flooded outside 14 St.-Union Square subway stop. Some of them were allies, and some were parents with transgender children ready to speak about their experiences in New York’s healthcare system.
“These kids have had care at NYU, which until now, has been excellent,” Kristin Clifford told the crowd of thousands. Clifford has two trans children. “For six years I have had great doctors, great psychiatrists, great therapists, great people who really cared about my kids until now, until last week, when they put our prescriptions off for almost a week.”
Upon learning of the Trump Administration’s new executive order banning trans healthcare for teenagers under 19-years-old, New York Attorney General Letitia James wrote a letter informing healthcare providers that they’re subject to breaking New York’s anti-discrimination laws when they refuse care to transgender youth.
Clifford told the audience of protesters that James’s letter provoked her pharmacist to fill her child’s prescription. However, they were only given a week’s worth instead of a month’s.
“Our pharmacist, who, again, until now, has been very caring about my family, said, ‘What if the DEA comes and asks me questions?’” the mother recalled.
“Since when is a local Queens pharmacist scared of the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency coming?” Clifford asked hypothetically.
The rally was named “Rise Up for Trans Youth,” and organized by activists from Trans formative Schools (an education initiative that centers transness), ACT UP NY (an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic), and Gender Liberation Movement (a liberation organization that organizes for gender justice).
Additionally, many people showed up with signs shedding light on the integrated struggles of Black lives, refugees, immigrants, inclusive faith communities, and Palestinians among transgender communities.
The rally unfurled in the heart of District 2 of New York Public Schools, one of the largest and wealthiest school districts in Manhattan. Organizers of the “Rise Up for Trans Youth” rally have been protesting District 2’s discriminatory policies barring transgender youth from sports (called Resolution #245) for one year straight.
Related: Parents of LGBTQ Youth Defended Trans Students in a Tense NYC Education Council Meeting — Here’s Why That Matters…
Now, organizers like Chase Strangio brought that protest to the streets.
“They are not going to stop attacking us because they fear our freedom. Don’t forget that. But that also means that we have the power to build the transformative world that makes all of them irrelevant, and that makes all of us, the people in history, who we are going to look back on and remember that we dream something bigger than they could ever imagine,” Strangio told the crowd Saturday afternoon.
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Last year, Strangio became the first out trans person to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court in U.S. v Skrmetti. Strangio made the case that state laws banning health care for transgender youth violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Related: RECAP: Oral Argument in Landmark Supreme Court Case on Transgender Health Care
“And you trans young people, you are leading us. You are our map. You are our guide. You are the reason that we fight in court. You are the reason that we show up in the streets, and you are the reason that I believe every single day that we will win,” Strangio continued.
In fact, a new analysis of private insurance claims data finds less than 0.1% of youth accessed puberty blockers or hormones for gender transition, reported NPR.
This fact is not lost on trans youth.
One young trans person came to the microphone in a purple hat. She was animated and introduced herself as a 14-year-old Afghanistan-American girl who lives in New York City and loves to bake, draw, and connect with friends.
“I want to shed light on the trans community,” said the youth to thousands. “I think [trans kids] [are] overly looked at because we only make up less than 1% of the population. This leads to why we need to protect trans kids. Trans kids need protection and support so they can feel safe and be themselves. They deserve kindness and support just like everyone else.”
The 14-year-old goes to Trans formative Schools with other queer, trans, nonbinary, two-spirit, and other gender nonconforming students. Many of the youth said they are inspired by actress and 25th GLAAD Media Awards Honoree, Laverne Cox and the cast of Wicked.
Not coincidentally, Mt. Sinai-Union Square sat just across the street from the rally.
Mt. Sinai Health System, the largest hospital network in the city, has also been canceling surgery consultations for young trans patients since as early as December, according to parents who spoke to Hell Gate (a worker-owned newspaper named after Hell Gate Bridge in Queens) on condition of anonymity.
Lucia Perez from Jackson Heights, Queens didn’t come as a transgender person, or a parent of a transgender person, but as an ally. The Queens resident says her journey to allyship was a long one, but what “awoke” her was the book Luna, a story about a girl whose older sibling transitions.
“I think I’m really awed by the trans community’s courage and radical self love, and also the gift and transformation they give to us [in] how we know ourselves and our gender and how we relate to the world,” Perez said.
When asked what she would say to people who do not believe trans people exist she said:
“Historically, scientifically, transgender people are part of the beautiful diversity of the human experience in biology. And also, there’s a lot of things that you know were never thought to exist…. I urge you to have an open, loving heart and listen, and also wonder: What is it about trans people that makes you uncomfortable about how you think about yourself and your life and your culture?”
Organizers urged the crowd to take action by sending a letter to healthcare providers denying care to transgender youth and to continue the fight by organizing with ACT UP NY, Trans formative Schools, and Gender Liberation Movement. The organizers kept reminding the crowd that the Union Square rally is “just the beginning,” and that in order to move justice and equality forward, all must get organized and work together in solidarity.