New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday said he will invest millions of dollars to safeguard and expand access to gender-affirming care.
The mayor said he will allocate $15 million to establish a direct care access fund for providers of youth gender-affirming care to help ensure that New Yorkers can continue to access medically necessary care; launch a call and text line connecting New Yorkers with care, services, information, resources and support related to gender-affirming care; and fund research to identify gaps in health care access and outcomes for transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers.
As the federal government retreats from supporting this critical research, New York City will invest in better understanding and meeting the needs of LGBTQ+ community, he said.
“Every New Yorker should have the freedom to live as themselves and access the health care they need,” Mamdani said in a statement. “We will protect care, support the providers delivering it and make clear that trans New Yorkers belong in this city. Health care is a human right, and we will do everything in our power to defend it.”
Earlier this month, the city’s Law Department submitted an amicus brief supporting a legal challenge brought on behalf of transgender youth and young adults opposing federal grand jury subpoenas seeking the medical records of patients who have received gender-affirming care. On Wednesday, a federal judge granted the injunction, blocking the U.S. Department of Justice from using subpoenas to access sensitive medical records of transgender patients.
The New York City Health Department will, for the first time, offer gender-affirming hormone therapy through a pilot program for adults at its public health clinic in Corona, Queens, later this year.
“I know first-hand that gender affirming care for the treatment of gender dysphoria is lifesaving,” said Taylor Brown, inaugural director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs. "Our administration’s priorities and efforts, including this latest investment initiative, serve as reminders that in New York City, we stand up for New Yorkers, gender affirming care is lifesaving healthcare, and that TGNCNB New Yorkers, like all New Yorkers, are entitled to equal, equitable, and medically necessary health carefree from discrimination.”
