State AG says NY hospitals must continue offering gender-affirming care to minors

As President Donald Trump and his administration attempt to end gender-affirming care for minors, state Attorney General Letitia James has put New York providers on notice that they must continue offering such care to comply with state law, and said that a new court ruling means that they won’t lose federal funding – for now.

James and other state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the federal funding freeze the Trump administration tried to put into effect last month. On Friday, a federal judge in Rhode Island issued a temporary restraining order in that case, just days after a federal judge in a different case related to the funding freeze made a similar ruling. The temporary restraining order has no expiration date.

In a Monday press release, James said that the federal Department of Justice’s interpretation or the restraining order is that it applies to all federal funding awards, including those for hospitals. According to James, that means that as long as the restraining order is in place, hospitals and other organizations that offer gender-affirming care to minors will not lose out on federal funding. 

James sent a letter to hospitals and other groups that receive federal funding to inform them of the court ruling, including “the availability of federal financial assistance regarding the provision of gender affirming care to minors.” The letter also warns recipients that under state law, they must continue offering gender affirming care, regardless of federal funding. “Electing to refuse services to a class of individuals based on their protected status, such as withholding the availability of services from transgender individuals based on their gender identity or their diagnosis of gender dysphoria, while offering such services to cisgender individuals, is discrimination under New York law,” James wrote in the letter.

NYU Langone reportedly stopped providing gender-affirming care to new patients under 19 years old after Trump signed an executive order threatening to pull federal funding to organizations that offer that care. The news sparked backlash, with LGBTQ+ lawmakers condemning the reported decision and activists planning protests outside the hospital on Monday evening. A spokesperson for NYU Langone did not return a request for comment on whether the hospital would resume offering gender-affirming care in light of the temporary restraining order won by James.

At an unrelated press conference on Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul reaffirmed New York’s support for the broader LGBTQ+ community. “We are proud that New York state is the birthplace of the LGBTQ+ movement, we are very proud of that,” Hochul said. “And we will never shirk our responsibility to protect individuals and their rights.” The governor in 2023 signed a transgender “safe haven” law meant to protect doctors and other providers who offer gender-affirming care to people from states where it is restricted or illegal, as well as parents who consent to their minor children receiving that care.

But Hochul also asserted that the average American is most concerned about the economy. “I also just want to remind Washington that this is not top of mind for most New Yorkers,” she said. With anti-trans messaging possibly playing a role in Trump’s victory, some Democrats have begun shying away from publicly messaging around the issue – and in some cases, have even adopted traditionally conservative talking points on the matter.

Trump has gone all-in on the culture war around gender, issuing an executive order recognizing only two sexes, requiring federal documents to reflect gender assigned at birth targeting providers who offer gender affirming care and generally scrubbing anything related to gender from the federal government. Despite New York’s strong protections for transgender individuals and generally progressive reputation on LGBTQ+ issues, a new Siena College poll suggests that Trump’s targeting of trans people isn’t necessarily hurting him in the state. The survey found that 47% of New York voters – a plurality of those polled – supported the president’s executive order rescinding the recognition of trans Americans.