Zohran Mamdani’s new transgender care clinic will not provide care to trans people under the age of 19
New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has made a series of LGBTQ+ pledges. (Image: Getty)
New York City health officials plan to open and run a gender-affirming care clinic in Corona, Queens, stepping in directly as federal pressure tightens and providers pull back from trans healthcare. However, the clinic will not provide care to trans people under the age of 19.
The plan was discussed at a New York City Council budget hearing on Friday. City Health Commissioner Alister Martin told councillors that opening the new clinic marks “one of the first times that the public health department has ever taken that step”.
Access for young people was a central concern at the hearing. Two major New York City health networks, NYU Langone Health and the Mount Sinai Hospital System, have closed their gender-affirming care programmes to minors and have not publicly disclosed when they plan to reopen them.
Martin said the city wanted to support young people, while warning about potential federal retaliation. “We are committed to this issue and want to make sure we provide the services and resources for youth,” he said. Still, “we don’t [want to] expose ourselves to clawbacks from the federal government, which disrupt the rest of the care that we can give.”
Councilmember Tiffany Cabán, who represents Astoria in Queens, said families were already feeling the impact. “I’m talking to parents all the time, and they don’t know where to take their children,” she said.
In a statement, a spokesperson for NYC’s health service said: “Transgender, gender-nonconfirming, and non-binary New Yorkers deserve age-appropriate health care that is affirming, respectful, and considerate of all their needs.
“That’s why, for the first time later this summer, the NYC Health Department will be expanding services to provide gender affirming hormone therapy to adults 19 years of age and older at our Corona Sexual Health Clinic. As with the other clinic services, gender-affirming hormone therapy will be offered at no to low cost and regardless of immigration status. We look forward to sharing more details upon launching the pilot.”
Federal pressure and patient records
The clinic proposal comes as the Trump administration has intensified actions around gender-affirming care, including seeking access to private medical records for trans youth. NYU Langone was issued a subpoena last month and was later sued by patients seeking to stop the possible release of records.
What a city-run clinic signals
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is responsible for public health programmes and health policy implementation across the five boroughs. New York City has long been a major centre of LGBTQ+ life, with extensive community health infrastructure but persistent access gaps for trans healthcare. City-run provision of gender-affirming care remains relatively uncommon in the US, even though municipal health departments can operate clinics directly.
In a separate clash with the federal government, Trump administration border czar Tom Homan said on Fox & Friends that New York City would see “more ICE than you’ve ever seen”, adding: “I just reviewed an operational plan. I’m not going to tell you exactly when it’s going to happen, but it’s coming.” The comments were reported in a story about threats of an ICE surge in New York City.
