LID Condemns NYU-Langone's Closing of the Transgender Youth Health Program

The Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn condemn in the strongest possible terms NYU Langone’s decision to end gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth. This abrupt withdrawal abandons patients who have relied on NYU’s expertise and continuity of care, and it was taken under the pretext of a shifting “regulatory environment” while families and clinicians scramble to find safe alternatives. NYU’s action will sever access to puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and other medically necessary treatments that many young people depend on to live.

This decision also runs headlong into New York State’s legal and regulatory framework that protects access to gender-affirming care and prohibits discrimination in health services; state authorities have explicitly warned hospitals that they must continue providing such care and that denying it risks violating state law. By abandoning these young patients now, NYU is consigning them to needless suffering and increased risk of severe mental health crises, including self-harm and death, outcomes that New York’s laws and medical ethics are designed to prevent. On behalf of all queer people in Brooklyn, we demand that NYU immediately reverse this decision, restore full, uninterrupted care to transgender youth, and work with state officials to ensure compliance with New York law and the safety of our community’s children.