As the Trump administration continues to defund whole sectors of the government, a massive lawsuit has been filed by the states to stop Trump from withholding funding for gender-affirming care. The lawsuit was filed against the Department of Health and Human Services and its head, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and has been joined by 22 states. Meanwhile, Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York City has announced a plan to invest $15 million into gender-affirming care, showing an alternative method for fighting Trump’s meddling.
California Attorney General Bob Banta leads the suit, along with contemporaries from twenty-one other states across the country. They argue that the executive branch does not have the authority to unilaterally decide what treatments are available, or to whom. They point out that, under the Trump administration’s plan, medical services that would be denied to trans patients will still be available to cisgender patients, demonstrating that the plan is discriminatory. If Trump and RFK Jr.’s plan goes forward, LGBTQ+ patients could lose access to necessary care as early as October 13.
While all of this is happening, Zohran Mamdani has unveiled a three-pronged, $15 million investment in trans healthcare and wellbeing. This plan will fund gender-affirming care, a hotline to support trans folk seeking care, and continued research into LGBTQ+ healthcare. It is yet to be seen what resistance the Trump administration will put up against Mamdani, but this is an exciting initiative that will help countless people across the Big Apple, and could lead to similar investments elsewhere in the country.
The Trump administration’s efforts against the LGBTQ+ community are as fierce as they’ve ever been, but so is the resistance against it. In the courtrooms, at the ballot boxes, across the country, the fight against bigotry continues on all fronts. As long as there are people trying to hurt the LGBTQ+ community, there will be many more standing up to defend it.
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