LID's June 2026 Pride Statement: New York Must Be a Sanctuary for Trans New Yorkers
As Brooklyn celebrates Pride Week, Lambda Independent Democrats is calling on New York City and State leaders to move beyond rhetoric and make meaningful investments in gender-affirming care and other essential supports for transgender New Yorkers.
The following statement was adopted by Lambda Independent Democrats in advance of Brooklyn Pride 2026.
New York Must Be a Sanctuary for Trans New Yorkers by Investing in Gender-Affirming Care
LID is proud to call Brooklyn the center of queer and trans New York, and as we celebrate Brooklyn Pride Week, we are calling on our elected officials to step up for transgender New Yorkers, who are under attack from a fascist federal administration hell-bent on criminalizing trans existence.
In the year and a half since Donald Trump returned to power in Washington, Brooklyn has been the heart of the resistance. And we have won some important victories, including passing important city and state legislation to protect LGBTQ+ New Yorkers, defeating proposals from the Eric Adams administration that would have harmed trans students in our public schools, and electing a mayor and City Council members last year who made explicit promises to stand up for our community.
At the same time, as the Trump Administration continues its relentless attempts to end access to gender-affirming care and punish trans people, their families, and medical professionals who support them, we need our elected officials to do more. When Mount Sinai and NYU Langone stopped their youth gender-affirming care (GAC) programs in response to threats from the Trump Administration, many elected officials were loud in condemning the hospitals’ actions. Words are important, and it is certainly good to have elected leaders who stand up for the trans community. But as soon as these hospitals made these changes, it was clear that the city and state needed to step up and invest specifically in GAC, including making clear that anyone who lost access to care due to Mount Sinai’s and NYU Langone’s actions would be able to receive that care in our robust public hospital system. To date, this has not happened, leaving a major gap in essential funding for our community.
In its latest attack, the Trump Administration is not only pressuring these hospitals to stop their care programs; it is now demanding patient records of trans youth who received GAC in the past. This clearly illegal request, violating HIPAA and other laws, must be firmly resisted at all levels.
Mayor Mamdani, whom LID was proud to support last year, deserves credit for creating the first Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs and selecting a strong trans leader, Taylor Brown, to lead that office. However, as we enter the first Pride month of the Mamdani Administration, the $65 million the Mayor pledged on the campaign trail to support GAC has not yet materialized. This is particularly troubling because the state recently passed its budget without any new investments in gender-affirming care, and actually cut funding to runaway and homeless youth services, which are often a lifeline for queer and trans youth. This decision is particularly shortsighted at a time when LGBTQ+ people from around the country are flocking to New York, and to New York City in particular, in order to escape transphobic policies in red states.
The state’s failure to invest in these critical priorities leaves the city’s budget process, which will conclude by the end of June, as the only option for new public funding for GAC, and we call on the mayor and City Council to make these investments a reality. Mayor Mamdani’s administration has recently clarified that his budget proposal includes $15 million for GAC and that many of the City’s public health clinics will soon add GAC for adults. These are important milestones, but still leave a major gap in access for youth GAC. Over the next few weeks, we will know if Mayor Mamdani and the Council have translated their rhetoric into tangible action to support our community.
At a time when the federal government is attempting to obtain private medical information about trans patients and their families, including from hospitals right here in NYC, the message to our local elected officials is clear. Words are important, but they are not enough. Public campaigns and rhetoric in support of our community are important, but they are not enough. LGBTQ+ representation in local and state government is important, but it is not enough. New York City needs to invest significant tangible resources into gender-affirming care and other essential supports for the trans and queer communities. LGBTQ+ people all over the country are looking to our city, the home of Stonewall, to be a model for the rest of the country and show how to be a true sanctuary for those targeted by the Trump Administration’s policies. Being that sanctuary starts with investing in gender-affirming care.
About Lambda Independent Democrats
Lambda Independent Democrats is Brooklyn's LGBTQ+ Democratic club. Since 1978, LID has organized, advocated, and fought to build LGBTQ+ political power across Brooklyn and New York City.
To learn more, become a member, or get involved, visit LIDBK.com.