More than two dozen LGBTQ+-serving organizations call on state leaders to protect health care, safety, and dignity amid escalating federal attacks
To read “A Vision for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers,” click here
(New York, NY — March 31, 2026) More than two dozen leading LGBTQ+ advocacy, health care, and legal organizations from across New York State today released A Vision for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers, a comprehensive roadmap for how New York can safeguard LGBTQ+ New Yorkers’ rights, health, privacy, and economic security at a moment when coordinated federal attacks are threatening access to gender-affirming care, dismantling safety-net programs, and emboldening discrimination nationwide.
Released on Transgender Day of Visibility, the vision outlines the steps New York must take to ensure LGBTQ+ communities—particularly transgender and gender-nonconforming New Yorkers—can live with safety, dignity, and access to essential services.
Developed by organizations working on the front lines of health care, legal advocacy, housing, and youth services, the vision reflects both the urgency of the current moment and a clear roadmap for state-level leadership. Organizations signing on include the Ali Forney Center, Amida Care, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, Empire Justice Center, Equality New York, The Legal Aid Society, NEW Pride Agenda, the New York Civil Liberties Union, New York Transgender Advocacy Group, Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts, and the Transgender Law Center.
Together, the coalition is calling on New York lawmakers to take decisive action to:
- Protect and strengthen the social safety net to ensure access to health care, food, and economic support amid federal cuts.
- Guarantee access to gender-affirming care for transgender and gender-nonconforming New Yorkers of all ages.
- Invest in LGBTQ+ youth safety, health, and housing, including protections in schools and expanded services for homeless and runaway youth.
- Enact robust privacy protections to safeguard medical data, name and gender marker changes, and sensitive health information.
- End the criminalization of LGBTQ+ communities by advancing decriminalization and public health-centered reforms, and protections for transgender people in custody.
The vision also points to recent progress in eliminating barriers to care and investing in trans-led solutions—including expanded funding for the Lorena Borjas Transgender Wellness & Equity Fund and New York City’s historic investment in gender-affirming care—as evidence that bold, values-driven leadership is possible even in the face of federal hostility.
The release of A Vision for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers comes as the federal government escalates attacks on gender-affirming care, pressures hospitals and schools to roll back protections, and enacts sweeping cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, and other essential programs—cuts that disproportionately harm LGBTQ+ people, particularly transgender people, youth, people of color, immigrants, and low-income New Yorkers. At the same time, local efforts to undermine LGBTQ+ inclusion—from attacks on transgender students to attempts to erode privacy and bodily autonomy—have heightened the urgency for state action.
“A Vision for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers is a powerful, community-driven manifesto built alongside advocates across New York State to both amplify and educate in making clear the realities LGBTQ+ New Yorkers face every day and the real solutions within reach. At a time when our communities are under attack nationwide, New York has a responsibility to be a beacon of hope. By protecting, supporting, and investing in LGBTQ+ lives through policy, care, legal rights, and true sanctuary, we show what it means to center and uplift those most marginalized, and are setting the standard for the rest of the country,” said Galloway, Advocacy Manager of the Ali Forney Center.
“A Vision for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers lays out a clear path forward for protecting our communities in a moment of profound uncertainty,” said Doug Wirth, President and CEO of Amida Care. “As federal leaders escalate attacks on health care, safety-net programs, and basic civil rights, New York must remember what it has long stood for. For more than a century, this state has led the nation in advancing worker protections, social welfare, and civil rights. That legacy carries responsibilities today: to protect access to care, defend dignity, and ensure the LGBTQ+ community – and all New Yorkers – can live healthy, secure lives.”
“Amid escalating and multifaceted threats to the transgender community, the Vision offers a pathway for New York to live its values and ensure transgender New Yorkers can live safety, authentically, with dignity,” said Empire Justice Center Policy and Communications Director Alex Dery Snider. “Empire Justice is proud to stand with our colleagues and grateful for the collective work, expertise, and lived experience reflected here.”
“Equality New York is proud to partner with this coalition to push for more protections and additional funding for our LGBTQ+ community. Under this current administration, it is more important than ever that we collectively fight for Equality & Equity in Albany,” said Amanda Babine, Executive Director Equality New York.
“As the Trump administration escalates attacks on LGBTQ+ communities nationwide, New York has a moral responsibility to ensure we can live as our authentic selves with safety and dignity,” said Allie Bohm, Senior Policy Counsel at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “To truly serve as a beacon for LGBTQ+ communities, our state must act decisively. The NYCLU is proud to join partners across our movement to advance a shared vision for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers: one that protects access to gender-affirming care, supports LGBTQ+ youth, strengthens privacy protections, eliminates outdated laws that criminalize our communities, improves safety for trans people who are incarcerated, and defends immigrants’ rights.”
“The NEW Pride Agenda was proud to partner with our allies and accomplices on this blueprint. It is a clarion call for our state to make real investments in our communities and establish real protections for our rights amid intensifying threats. That means ensuring LGBTQ+ young people have access to safe housing, supportive services, and the resources they need to thrive, and guaranteeing that gender-affirming care remains accessible to every New Yorker who needs it. As budget negotiations continue, state lawmakers must meet this moment and provide queer New Yorkers with the support they need in this tumultuous time,” said Kei Williams, Executive Director of the NEW Pride Agenda.
“The escalating attacks from the federal government are not abstract—they are already putting care out of reach and putting lives at risk. New York cannot afford to be passive in this moment. This vision lays out exactly what state leaders must do to protect LGBTQ+ New Yorkers, including guaranteeing access to gender-affirming care and strengthening our health care safety net. We are proud to stand with this coalition to demand action that meets the urgency of this moment,” said Robin Chappelle Golston, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts.
“Transgender New Yorkers deserve to thrive, not just survive. The Vision for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers lays out a clear pathway for the state to facilitate that thriving. Transgender Law Center is proud to sign on to the Vision and we strongly encourage law makers across the state to take a stand in the face of rising anti-LGBTQ sentiment from the federal government by supporting trans New Yorkers’ right to thrive,” said Heron Greenesmith, Deputy Director of Policy at Transgender Law Center.
To read A Vision for LGBTQ+ click here.
A Vision for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers is endorsed by:
- Amida Care
- Albany Damien Center
- Ali Forney Center
- Callen-Lorde Community Health Center
- Destination Tomorrow
- Empire Justice Center
- Equality New York
- Gender Equality New York
- Golden Psychology
- Hetrick-Martin Institute
- interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth
- Latino Commission on AIDS
- The Legal Aid Society
- The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
- The LOFT
- Make the Road New York
- Next Generation Men of Transition
- NEW Pride Agenda
- New York Civil Liberties Union
- New York Transgender Advocacy Group (NYTAG)
- The NYS LGBT HHS Network – Administered by The Center
- Otsego Pride
- Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts
- Pride Center of Staten Island
- Trans formative Schools
- Transgender Law Center
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The full PDF copy of the Press Release and the “A Vision for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers” is available for your convenience.
