Transgender pride flags ruffled in the night Monday as thousands of LGBTQ+ protesters and their supporters marched on NYU Langone Hospital in Manhattan after the medical giant pulled the plug on gender-affirming care for children.
The gathering at St. Vartan Park, located on 1st Avenue and 35th Street across the way from NYU Langone, stressed that the decision to deny such care to trans youth is a matter of life and death, and their fury hinged on the fear that struggling children could lose their lives to self-harm. NYU Langone’s decision came following an executive order that President Trump signed barring gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth.
“I have a feeling that they don’t care, that what they are doing is literally killing people, every message that is trying to undermine our right to health care,” Jewish transgender activist and author Abby Stein told a legion of demonstrators on Feb. 3. “You choose our teens to be targeted — shame! You have blood on your hands!”
It wasn’t just the transgender community themselves who expressed outrage over the right-wing protocol taking hold in a liberal city; celebrities and medical staff also looked to raise their voices in support of their trans neighbors.
Actress Cynthia Nixon, known for her role in “Sex and the City,” grabbed a microphone and revealed that her transgender son underwent surgery at NYU Langone, telling the crowd that the doctors were kind and understanding. That the hospital reversed their policy on gender-affirming care left Nixon disturbed. .
“The idea that this city is filled with young people who thought they had a place to go where they could receive the highest care, and that place has now been shut to them, sickens me — sickens me to my core,” Nixon said. “The last two weeks have been an assault, a barrage — so many horrific things coming at us from every direction. But since the inauguration, and I would say, actually since the election, nothing has made me feel so good as coming around the corner today and seeing you all standing here fighting for trans rights.”
After speakers expressed their indignation, the thousands of protesters flooded out of the park and marched toward NYU Langone — only to be halted by cops who looked to stop them from descending on the medical center and inadvertently blocking emergency traffic.
Things swiftly grew heated as protesters came face-to-face with officers. A scuffle unfolded as cops attempted to make an arrest, resulting in a tug of war as police and demonstrators pulled the arms of a protester as they wrestled over the arrest. Yanking one masked demonstrator, police dragged them before lifting them by the arms and legs and carrying them to a marked van.
The protest continued across the street from NYU Langone, where activists promised to return if the hospital did not reconsider their decision.
“We cannot ever lose momentum, and we cannot ever allow fear to silence us, fear to keep us hidden. We have fought for so long to stand in the light of the sun, to dance in the dark night of the sky,” prominent transgender activist Qween Jean said. “Trans people will have respect.”
amNewYork Metro reached out to NYU Langone for comment and is awaiting a response. Prior to Trump’s order, the hospital gained national recognition for its gender-affirming care and support of the LGBTQ+ community.
