In upstate New York, LGBTQ+ service providers are being pushed to the edge

Recently, a 16-year-old teen in Utica came out to their parents, a decision that resulted in the teen losing their home after their parents kicked them out. Couchsurfing and hitchhiking for newly homeless LGBTQ+ kids is not uncommon, but in a blue state like New York, one might think they’d have access to more support than those from deep red parts of the country. However, that’s not always the case upstate.

The teen was kicked out in the middle of the night, and though the Q Center in Utica provides youth LGBTQ+ programming, the city does not have a dedicated center that is open 24 hours, so they felt compelled to look elsewhere. Their options were Syracuse or Albany. Without access to care closer to home, a lack of transportation options and money meant the teen walked to Albany. The state capital is home to the social services nonprofit In Our Own Voices, which focuses on supporting Black, Indigenous and other LGBTQ+ communities of color. Tandra LaGrone, the organization’s executive director, recounted the story to City & State. “It took that person four days to get there, walked the backroads of Route 5, stopped at truck stops and did whatever they had to do to get food to eat to get to the next spot or get a ride,” LaGrone said. “That’s not uncommon in upstate New York.” LaGrone said the teen decided to trek to Albany instead of Syracuse because the capital had more programs available.

The current federal administration promises to make conditions for LGBTQ+, and especially transgender, New Yorkers upstate that much more difficult. Although his campaign and early executive orders made it clear how President Donald Trump would treat the transgender community, a move by the National Park Service made a metaphorical erasure quite literal. The Stonewall National Monument, located at the site of the New York City bar where most consider the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement began, removed the “T” from its website. Now, the historic site honors “LGB” – lesbian, gay and bisexual – achievements, completely eliminating any reference to the contributions of transgender people.

The administration’s attempt to erase transgender people has been seen and felt strongly in the city, from the Stonewall Inn to high-profile instances of hospitals backing away from gender-affirming care. Outside New York City, trans communities all over the state are feeling the impact of the Trump administration’s anti-trans actions and rhetoric. But resources were already far less accessible outside the downstate region, and cuts to key funding will further strain providers that had been struggling to fill the gaps.

Nonprofit social services organizations and health care providers are already feeling the impacts of the Trump administration, even before the worst of the cuts have materialized. Assembly Member Harry Bronson, one of the few out gay members of the state Legislature from outside the New York City metropolitan area, said Trillium Health, one of the main health care providers for LGBTQ+ individuals in the Rochester region, has seen a dramatic increase in the number of trans people seeking care. Trillium was already serving patients who came from surrounding rural communities, but is now seeing patients from nearby counties and even from other states who are flocking to New York due to the state’s shield laws and protections for transgender individuals. “What I’m hearing from those providers in our area is that there’s a tremendous uptick in participation, and folks are reaching out to them for more support,” Bronson said.

The federal government has already pressured a number of health care providers to cease gender-affirming care, at least for people under 18 years old. After Trump issued an executive order threatening to pull federal funding for health care providers who continued gender-affirming care for minors, NYU Langone Health in New York City drew scrutiny from advocates and elected officials alike for reportedly halting care for at least one teen. In response, state Attorney General Letitia James penned a letter reminding institutions that under state law and the state constitution, medical professionals cannot discriminate based on gender identity and must provide care.

Langone patients aren’t the only ones being affected, and gender-affirming care is also being threatened in parts of the state that get less attention. Bronson spoke of an Albany-area teen whose private health care provider stopped their gender-affirming treatment out of fear of the federal government. He said a colleague in the region had reached out to him to help the teen find a treatment clinic to continue their care. Bronson also recalled two parents of a young transgender person who reached out to express their fear over the future. “People are just nervous and scared of what’s happening, while trans people are being shunned by our government,” he said.

Albany’s In Our Own Voices has seen a 39% increase in use of its emergency services since January, according to LaGrone, which includes food pantries, clothing and housing. She said the group has a waiting list for housing despite an uncertain funding future from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provides In Our Own Voices with grant money that is hardly guaranteed now. LaGrone called the current environment “one of the worst times and administrations” for the LGBTQ+ community in the past 40 years. “It is a precedent of just chaos and fear across the board,” she said.

Cuts to Medicaid would also have a massive impact on trans New Yorkers. Brittan Hardgers, a trans man from Rochester and director of advocacy and community engagement at the New Pride Agenda, said he relied on Medicaid when he first began his transition seven years ago. “When I look at these federal attacks, I think of my siblings who need those Medicaid dollars for survival,” he said, adding that finding employment as a trans person can be difficult.

Like others, Hardgers said that despite the thriving trans communities in Rochester and greater Western New York, upstate doesn’t have the same level or resources – or attention – as downstate. “We have to be seen because, let’s be honest, there is a mass of trans refugees moving to New York state, and folks are not moving to New York City,” he said. Grassroots organizations like Hardgers’ own Next Generation Men of Transition are what help keep those upstate communities thriving. But they’re also feeling the strain, with Hardgers noting mutual aid requests have gone up sharply.

Travis Barr-Longo is trying to increase access to services in the Central New York region, especially in small towns like his own. Barr-Longo, who performs drag under the name Anita Buffem, spent 20 years in New York City before moving back to his hometown of Cazenovia outside of Syracuse, where he now serves on the local school board. Barr-Longo described himself, only half-jokingly, as the “town gay,” and said he is often the person that people from marginalized communities come to for help. He talked about a trans teenager in town who struggled to access care after their parents refused to share insurance information with them, but who was ultimately able to receive medical care thanks to the Cazenovia Pride festival that he helps organize. But there’s only so much he can do, especially in the face of massive federal funding cuts. “I think it’s really difficult as a marginalized person in a small community to be able to ride this wave,” Barr-Longo said. “And not only ride it because we’re forced to, but to show up to try to make change, because we can’t keep going the way it’s going.”

Having spent 20 years in New York City, Barr-Longo is starkly aware of how difficult being part of the LGBTQ+ community upstate can be, due to both hostile attitudes and a lack of resources. “In New York City, you almost take it all for granted, all the resources,” he said. “They’re just everywhere all the time, and how amazing is that?” In Cazenovia, it can be a struggle just to get information into the community about which health care providers are knowledgeable and safe for LGBTQ+ individuals. And that’s on top of the higher likelihood of encountering less-than-tolerant viewpoints in an environment where those views are harder to get away from. Barr-Longo said he had his tires slashed two days in a row when running for school board and felt fearful enough that he installed security cameras at both his home and his mother’s home.

New York already has a number of laws in place to protect LGBTQ+ communities, particularly trans communities, and lawmakers are hoping to approve additional measures before they break for the year. Assembly Member Gabriella Romero of Albany is sponsoring a bill that would create a gender-affirming care program within the state Department of Health to ensure continuity if the federal government cuts off funding or Trump issues additional executive orders. Many sponsors of LGBTQ+ legislation tend to hail from downstate, like state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly Members Linda Rosenthal and Jessica González-Rojas. Romero’s own state Senate sponsor for the legislation, state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, is from New York City. As an upstate lawmaker, Romero said her sponsorship of the bill sends an important message. “Sometimes people forget that it’s the entire New York state that has trans and gender-nonconforming people in it,” she said. “It’s really, really important that we feel that representation all across the state.”

Romero said upstate communities often feel the impact of the federal administration more strongly than their downstate counterparts, due to both how funds get distributed and the comparatively fewer resources upstate. Her legislation could ensure that communities like hers can continue to access information and resources that they would otherwise be cut off from if the federal government continues to take anti-trans actions. “I’m sure in New York City, there’s countless organizations,” she said. “And we just don’t have that in upstate.”

The situation may often look dire – LaGrone said her staff is exhausted, and keeping people on board has become more difficult given concerns about funding cuts – but there have been some silver linings. Barr-Longo said that, since Trump’s election, he has seen an influx of people coming to the store that he runs who want to help out. He characterized them as “the flip side” to the conservative, anti-trans group Moms For Liberty – mothers, straight and cisgender men and other allies who may not have gotten involved before. “The one sparkle for me is that, OK, right now people are seeing it who you may not typically expect them to see it, and they’re wanting to make a difference,” Barr-Longo said.