City lawmakers introduce package of bills to safeguard TGNCNBI New Yorkers

City lawmakers are introducing a package of bills intended to shore up support for transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and intersex (TGNCNBI) New Yorkers in a local effort to counteract the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on transgender individuals.

The legislative package, driven primarily by members of the City Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus and some other city lawmakers, aims to strengthen access to gender-affirming care, bolster outreach and legal resources for TGNCNBI individuals, create a plan to support TGNCNBI migrants, and more.

LGBTQIA+ Caucus Co-Chair Tiffany Cabán described the legislative package as “one of many steps we must take towards protecting and uplifting New York’s transgender and gender non-conforming neighbors.”

“Our City Council must fight for a safe, equitable, joyful future for the trans community,” Cabán said in a written statement.

The city-based effort comes after State Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal unveiled new legislation at the state level that would require Medicaid to cover gender-affirming care in New York State — regardless of federal funding — and ban healthcare discrimination against protected classes, including on the basis of gender identity, adding to existing protections under the state and city’s Human Rights Law.

One bill championed by Cabán aspires to create a city-driven “know your rights” campaign. Int. 1200 would require the city to lead a public education program to teach the public about the rights and resources available to TGNCNBI individuals. The program would include information about discrimination protections, harassment, hate crime protections, gender-affirming care access, legal name and gender marker changes, and community-based organizations serving TGNCNBI individuals.

The legislation is co-sponsored by LGBTQIA+ Caucus Co-Chair Erik Bottcher and fellow LGBTQIA+ Caucus members Lynn Schulman, Chi Ossé, and Crystal Hudson, who formerly served as co-chair of the LGBTQIA+ Caucus. Councilmembers Shahana Hanif and Farah Louis are also co-sponsors.

A separate bill proposed by Ossé, Int. 1204, would require the commissioner of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to create a citywide health agenda geared towards TGNCNBI New Yorkers to address health disparities between TGNCNBI and cisgender New Yorkers. Hanif, Bottcher, Hudson, Cabán, Louis, and Lincoln Restler are co-sponsors.

Meanwhile, a bill led by Hanif, Int. 1201, would ban activities that prevent access to facilities providing gender-affirming care. Violating the law could result in criminal charges or civil suits, according to the bill, and it would add gender-affirming care to the list of actions that would be covered under an individual’s private right of action in the event of interference with reproductive or endocrine medical care due to a lawsuit.

Known as the AFFIRM Act, that bill was written with Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and is co-sponsored by Councilmembers Sandy Nurse; Carmen De La Rosa and Carmina Rivera; Lincoln Restler; and Louis, Bottcher, Ossé, and Hudson.

Calling out the White House’s erasure of transgender individuals during a demonstration near the Stonewall Inn on Feb. 14.Donna Aceto

The legislative proposal follows a pair of federal court rulings blocking enforcement of two transphobic executive orders that prompted multiple hospitals in New York City to restrict gender-affirming care. Executive Order 14187, entitled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” sought to ban federal funding for gender-affirming care for individuals under the age of 19 and direct the Department of Health and Human Services secretary to “take all appropriate actions to end” gender-affirming care, “including regulatory and sub-regulatory actions.” Another executive order sought to erase transgender individuals entirely.

Int. 1203, another bill led by Ossé — and co-sponsored by Hanif, Bottcher, Hudson, Cabán and Louis — would require the chair of the Commission on Gender Equity to create a plan to support the arrival of TGNCNBI migrants who are 24 years of age and younger.

City lawmakers also introduced four resolutions calling on the state to take action on several fronts to help TGNCNBI people across the state, including calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign a bill requiring consent to process an individual’s health information, calling on the state Health Department to require hospitals to adhere to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s Standards of Care 8, and encouraging the State Legislature and the governor to ban out-of-state access to the state’s prescription monitoring program for certain medications, such as abortion medicine, hormone therapy, or puberty blockers.

Lawmakers are also bringing attention to a presconsidered resolution calling for the state to pass a bill protecting sensitive health information of patients — and that includes abortion or gender-affirming care — and giving patients the right to avoid disclosing that information.

Bottcher, for his part, stressed that he and his colleagues are committed to serving TGNCNBI individuals in the city despite the hostility of the Trump administration.

“We stand in total solidarity with our transgender siblings,” Bottcher said in a written statement. “While the Trump Administration is trying to erase the very existence of trans people, we are advocating for policies that greatly expand protections for trans New Yorkers. At the heart of the LGBTQIA+ rights movement, New York City must be a beacon of support and love for our entire community. An attack on one part of our community is an attack on all of us. The LGBTQIA+ Caucus will protect the rights of our community at all costs.”

Hanif said she is introducing the AFFIRM Act because lawmakers must use “every tool available” to improve the landscape for transgender patients.

“Anti-trans protests are on the rise nationwide, fueled by bigots emboldened by President Trump’s dangerous trans erasure agenda,” said Hanif, who voiced her commitment to making sure the city is a safe place for trans individuals to seek critical medical services.

Hudson emphasized the point that the legislative package serves to benefit all New Yorkers because protecting vulnerable communities helps everyone.

“The federal government is making consistent and aggressive efforts to undermine the rights of the trans community. As a member of the New York City Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus, I am proud that our body is matching its solidarity with real action,” Hudson said in a written statement. “This legislative package works to improve standards for trans healthcare, strengthen privacy protections, protect access to gender-affirming care, and takes crucial steps to uphold fundamental human rights at both the city and state level.”