Lawmakers and union demand NYU Langone resume offering gender-affirming care for minors

State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, Assembly Member Harvey Epstein and the health care workers union 1199SEIU have sent a letter to NYU Langone, asking for confirmation and proof that the hospital has fully resumed offering gender-affirming care to people under 19 years old.

Following an executive order from President Donald Trump to cut federal funding for any institution that provides gender-affirming care to minors, NYU Langone reportedly stopped providing that medical care. But on March 4, a federal judge issued an injunction blocking the implementation of Trump’s executive order around gender-affirming care. State Attorney General Letitia James also sent her own letter to health care providers last month informing them that halting gender-affirming care would violate state law, regardless of issues with federal funding.

 “It is therefore our expectation that NYU will continue to provide gender-affirming care to those under 19 – and do so in its entirety,” reads the letter to NYU Langone from Gonzalez, Epstein and 1199SEIU, which was shared exclusively with City & State. “As of today, it is our understanding that this is not the case.”

In the letter, the signatories claim that the hospital has only partly resumed gender-affirming care for minors – scheduling appointments with existing patients, but not accepting any new patients seeking gender-affirming care who are under the age of 19. “We call on you to provide gender-affirming care to all your patients who seek it, whether they be youth or adults, whether they are existing or new – and we call on you to do so immediately,” the letter states. 

A spokesperson for NYU Langone did not immediately return a request for comment about the status of the care they are offering.

“The rights and livelihoods of so many of our communities are at risk, and we demand NYU Langone take action immediately,” Gonzalez said in a statement, with Epstein adding that “NYU must be held accountable for their failure to comply with state law.” 

LGBTQ+ advocates welcomed the letter from the lawmakers and the union. “At an unprecedented time of government-sanctioned chaos and illegal directives from the White House… we need everyone to hold strong,” said Kyle Ishmael, co-chair of the New Pride Agenda board. “Despite what’s coming out of Washington, DC, New York is still a city and state of laws. That means institutions like NYU – charged with the cardinal duty to prevent harm and prioritize patient well-being – need to be squarely focused on doing just that, for all patients.”

The letter gives NYU Langone a deadline of March 20 to respond.