Opinion: We must create safe harbor for the trans community in NYC

Forged in brick and broken glass at the Stonewall uprising in 1969, New York City is the birthplace of the queer liberation movement. The fight for our right to even exist was challenged that day – a right that has not yet been won. Today, a hostile Trump administration has unleashed a torrent of anti-trans vitriol, a tsunami whose waves have not crested before crashing upon New York.Discriminatory executive orders have disrupted the provision of gender-affirming care in city hospitals, trans New Yorkers have endured the shame of forced misgendering on federal documents and universities have rolled back transgender inclusion policies. 

A dark cloud hangs over the transgender and nonconforming (TGNC) community. If it is not safe here, is it safe anywhere?

This Pride month, we must channel the courage of queer leaders at Stonewall like Marsha P. Johnson and fortify this city and this state as a true safe harbor, a shelter from the storm. As the leaders of the New York City Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus, we have taken the first steps to bolster our defenses.

In April, standing on the steps of City Hall, shoulder-to-shoulder with fierce advocates like NEW Pride Agenda, NY Civil Liberties Union, and Make The Road, we announced the passage of an initial package to shore up legal resources and health care access for the TGNC community.

The legislative package includes the AFFIRM Act, a ban on activities that threaten gender-affirming care, helping shield patients and providers against executive orders targeting this vital care. Access to this treatment is life-or-death for TGNC youth, who are acutely vulnerable to severe mental health struggles, including suicide. Gender-affirming care, such as hormones and puberty blockers, can have radical impacts on their mental health outcomes, markedly reducing rates of depression and suicide. 

The legislative package also creates a “know your rights” public service campaign, empowering TGNC New Yorkers with information about legal resources amid a swirl of intentionally bewildering federal edicts. Additionally, it requires the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to create a citywide health agenda for TGNC New Yorkers, seeking to address longstanding health disparities.

It is a decisive response to the hurricane thundering down on us from Washington, D.C. But it must only be the beginning of a sustained campaign to protect our transgender siblings throughout the state.

That is why, along with the city-level legislation, we passed a series of resolutions urging Albany leaders to bolster legal protections for TGNC individuals and care providers throughout the state. 

We need enhanced privacy protections for patients receiving gender-affirming care. As the Trump administration works to eliminate this indispensable health care, New York state must ensure that our anti-discrimination protections are ironclad and that TGNC people can receive care without fear of surveillance or intrusion. 

And beyond combating attacks from outside, we must invest in the TGNC community here at home. Along with mental health struggles, the TGNC community also faces persistent economic and housing instability – TGNC people are disproportionately likely to be unemployed and more than a quarter of LGBTQ youth experience homelessness at some point in their lives

As the city looks ahead to our Fiscal Year 2026 budget, the LGBTQIA+ Caucus and our partners are planting our flag, prioritizing historic funding to address unacceptable disparities.

This includes $15 million to fill critical gaps in access to gender-affirming care, ensuring that all TGNC New Yorkers can receive the healthcare they need to affirm their identities; $10 million for LGBTQIA+ youth housing to mitigate the severe disparities in access to stable housing; and $10 million for the expansion of the city's Trans Equity Initiative, which allocates essential resources to local organizations – like the Ali Forney Center and Callen-Lorde – that directly provide healthcare, housing and jobs programs for the TGNC community. These investments will begin to address historic economic and health inequities facing the TGNC community.

At Stonewall, the queer community in New York fought for our right to exist free from harassment and discrimination. Today, we are engaged in that same struggle – exemplified by the Trump administration’s decision to whitewash Stonewall by eliminating references to trans and queer participation.

Now is the time for our elected officials to take a side. Will you accede to those up who seek to erase the transgender community? Or will you join us? The choice is yours. Don’t forget: Pride is still a protest.