
Council’s Cabán calls for hospitals to ‘hold the line’ on trans kids

STATEWIDE – THE PARENTS OF TWO transgender 12-year-olds being treated at NYU Langone found out over the weekend that their children’s appointments to receive puberty-blocking implants had been canceled, reports the New York Times.
One child’s doctor reportedly said that the cancellation was due to “the new administration,” while the other child’s mother said she was told that the hospital was “awaiting more guidance” in the wake of an expansive executive order issued by President Trump last week that took aim at puberty-blocking and hormonal medication, as well as surgery, for trans youth under age 19. This, one of several orders targeting transgender protections, has generated significant uncertainty in the trans and medical communities, as well as questions over whether it conflicts with New York’s updated Equal Rights Amendment to the state constitution, which now guarantees freedom from discrimination on the basis of gender identity. The order claims that “countless” children regret these treatments, and attacks the credibility of doctors in the field; experts have said that regret rates are very low, and that some procedures are reversible and have few side effects.
In response to the news of the cancellations, Brooklyn-Queens City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán, an outspoken progressive and a co-chair of the council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus, released a statement in support of the two families, as well as other trans youth.
“[Trump’s] threats to withhold federal funding that provides lifesaving care for millions of patients is blackmail — and proof that attacks on the transgender community negatively affect all of us. It is up to New York City and State to hold the line. It would be cruel to throw the transgender community under the bus, and foolish to believe the federal government will stop with them. First they come for the transgender community. Soon they will come for us all,” Cabán wrote.
A source in city government, who did not wish to be named, told the Brooklyn Eagle that in addition to NYU Langone, representatives at Mount Sinai had “admitted” to elected officials that appointments for trans youth are being canceled there as well, but said that the hospital would not specify the reason why. A spokesperson for Mount Sinai told the Eagle that the hospital does not have a comment on the situation at this time. NYU Langone did not comment.
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