‘Hate has no place in our city’: New York Mayor Eric Adams signs executive order to PROTECT gender-affirming care amid red wave of restrictions
New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed an executive order on Monday to protect gender-affirming care, saying, “Hate has no place in our city.”
The order prevents city resources from being used for another state’s arrest, prosecution or investigation of anyone providing or receiving gender-affirming healthcare in New York City.
The decision is at odds with the wave of restrictions on gender-affirming access to care being introduced in Republican states. Adams is the 12th governor to sign an order protecting access.
Most recently, Missouri signed a law banning doctors from giving gender reassignment surgery or hormone therapy to those under the age of 18. Louisiana is expected to follow close behind.
Mayor Adams said the order affirms that “all people deserve the right to gender-affirming care and protection from persecution because they are who they are”
At least 20 states have taken steps to limit or completely ban transitional care for trans youth
Mayor Adams said yesterday, “As states across the country continue their attacks on our LGBTQ+ neighbors, New York City is doing what we’ve always done: standing up for justice and against discrimination.
“This executive order reaffirms the fact that there is no place for hatred in our city and that all people deserve the right to gender-affirming care and protection from persecution for who they are. To LGBTQ+ people across the country who feel hurt, isolated or threatened, we have a clear message for you: New York City is and will continue to be a welcoming home for you.”
Across the country, at least 20 states have passed laws restricting minors’ ability to receive gender-affirming care.
In some states, if a doctor or patient violates these laws, the state of New York City may request that they be detained while they are in town.
But under Adams’ Executive Order 32, iIf a health care provider in a limited state partners with NYC Health + Hospitals, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, or any other city agency to provide gender affirming services to an individual, the City of New York will not cooperate with a state investigation into the provider.
NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Dr. Mitchell Katz said, “I applaud Mayor Adams for continuing to make New York City a safe haven for the LGBTQ+ community and for enabling us to provide high-quality, comprehensive health care to everyone who passes through our city. doors.’
At least 11 other states have enacted laws to protect access to gender-affirming care, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, California, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington and Vermont, and the District of Columbia.
Most state-led initiatives restricting gender-affirming care apply to minors, with many right-wing voices concerned about what they believe is abuse with far greater risks than benefits to a child’s mental and physical well-being.
But those arguments run counter to reports from major medical organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychiatric Associationwho support the use of treatments such as puberty blockers as ‘medically necessary’.
Missouri Republican Governor Mike Parson signed into law a bill Wednesday that would ban doctors from performing sex reassignment surgery or prescribing hormone therapy or other drugs for sex reassignment on young people under 18.
Meanwhile, in Louisiana, the senate has revived a once-dead bill banning hormone treatments, menopausal surgeries and puberty blockers for trans minors there.