New York City mayor Eric Adams signs order protecting trans healthcare: ‘Hate has no place’
New York City mayor Eric Adams has signed an executive order that protects healthcare access for trans people. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)
New York City mayor Eric Adams has signed an executive order to protect trans healthcare, in a stand against a torrent of anti-LGBTQ+ laws sweeping the US.
Adams, a Democrat, signed executive order 32 on Monday (12 June), which not only guarantees access to gender-affirming healthcare in the Big Apple but also prohibits prosecution of those who seek it.
“To our LGBTQ+ community across the nation feeling hurt, isolated, or threatened, we have a clear message for you: New York City has and will always be a welcoming home for you,” Adams said.
Signing the order, he went on: “As states across the nation continue their onslaught of attacks on our LGBTQ+ neighbours, New York City is doing what we have always done: standing up for justice and against discrimination.
“This executive order reaffirms the fact that hate has no place in our city and that all people deserve the right to gender-affirming care and protection against prosecution for being who they are.”
The order states: “Healthcare should not be denied to anyone because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression”.
It also notes that gender-affirming care is “essential to the health and wellness of many transgender and non-binary people” with major medical organisations, representing more than 1.3 million doctors in the US, recognising the need for such age-appropriate care.
It also provides protections for individuals seeking or providing gender-affirming care while living in a state that bans or restricts access. Adams said those individuals will now be granted “protection and privacy in New York City to either receive or provide care that is medically needed”.
The order highlights that at least 20 states have passed laws to ban gender-affirming healthcare, while 34 states have introduced legislation to restrict or prohibit access to care.
‘Nobody should have to justify their own humanity’
Adams’ support for the LGBTQ+ community follows Maryland’s governor, Wes Moore, signing an executive order to protect trans healthcare in the state on 5 June.
On signing the order, Democrat Moore said: “In the state of Maryland, nobody should have to justify their own humanity.”
The move to protect the rights of queer people comes after the Human Rights Campaign declared a national “state of emergency” for LGBTQ+ people in the US for the first time in its history.
Statistics released by the organisation in its LGBTQ+ Americans Under Attack report, reveal that more than 76 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been signed into law in the US this year alone, more than any other year on record.
