By: Emily Nixon
On Feb. 17, New York University Langone Health (NYU Langone) closed its Transgender Youth Health Program and will stop providing gender-affirming care to current and new pediatric patients.
“One question I have, one anxiety, is ‘well, minors now, adults soon?’” said Finn Oliensis, a Brooklyn College (BC) senior majoring in music composition and a NYU Langone patient. “Having transitioned as a minor, it makes a huge difference, especially when you’re going through puberty.”
This time last year, NYU Langone refused to take on new patients under 19 for gender-affirming care in response to an Executive Order by US President Donald Trump, according to The Gothamist.
“For me, it’s been eye-opening how […] there is no real separation between federal and state and city, and I think it really shows,” said Daniel-Jose Cyan, a social work intern at the BC LGBTQ+ Resource Center and a NYU Langone patient.
“Considering [NYU Langone] is one of the biggest hospitals in New York City, it’s just upsetting.”
The decision to cut this program has been met with swift and sharp criticism from the LGBTQ+ community and politicians alike.
“Discontinuing this service for transgender and gender expansive youth is dangerous and cruel,” said New York Senator Kristen Gonzales in a statement.
“NYU Langone’s decision to capitulate to the Trump Administration puts young people in need of life-saving care at risk. It’s not only irresponsible, it helps the Trump Administration’s anti-trans agenda at the expense of NYU Langone’s own patients.”
Contrary to anti-trans rhetoric, obtaining a gender-affirming surgery entails years of waiting and “hours on hold on the phone,” among other obstacles, according to Oliensis.
“In general, gender affirming surgeries are really, really hard to get. People are acting like they’re giving surgeries out left and right,” said Oliensis.
“The wait lists are at least a year long for almost every surgeon, unless it’s someone who doesn’t take any insurance, and even then, when they do take insurance, there’s always a huge out-of-pocket cost.”
The pressure from “the current regulatory environment” was among the reasons for the program’s closure, a NYU Langone spokesman told The New York Times.
“I think my fear is not only protecting trans youth, but also, how are we, me specifically as a trans adult, being offered protection in the longer future?” said Cyan.
“Because regardless of who we elect, we are still in a country that works in different levels of government, and so this is only a symptom of a larger illness.”
The program provided a way for transgender youth to receive healthcare for their physical and mental well-being.
“With NYU [Langone], I decided to go with them because they had a special wait list for minors that was shorter than the adult waitlist,” said Oliensis.
“Just in general, having access to that shorter waitlist meant that I could start enjoying my body a little earlier than I would have, and by enjoy, I specifically mean not hate.”
The timing can mean everything for transgender youth, according to Oliensis.
“There’s a level of dysphoria – discomfort with your body or social perception based on your gender or other things, but in this case, gender. Specifically transitioning during puberty […] makes a huge difference, like every year. […] If I had transitioned a year earlier, [there’s] one thing I am dysphoric about that I wouldn’t have been,” said Oliensis.
When gender-affirming care is withheld, it can lead to tragic results, according to Cyan.
“I had started hormones because I was suicidal because I kept getting misgendered all the time,” said Cyan, “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have gender-affirming care. I really wouldn’t, and I know that for a fact.”
NYU Langone’s program closure, while distressing, has empowered Cyan in his role as a social worker.
“[I feel] some fear and also just a lot of frustration and sadness, especially as somebody who transitioned as a youth, so that’s what’s coming up for me,” said Cyan. “A lot of needing – of wanting to do more, and I can only do so much as a social worker, but that’s where my heart has always been with trans folks, and it will continue to be. I think this just enlightens me even more – lights my fire a little more, I should say.”
Gender-Affirming care leaves much to be desired and puts a lot of pressure on transgender people of all ages to be masters of their own care.
“My partner recently started on hormone replacement therapy [HRT], and his general PCP [Primary Care Provider] had one training on trans healthcare, and that’s it. So, she was so lost, and I did a lot of having to explain while I went to his appointment,” said Cyan. “Trans folks are forced to be experts on our own bodies and our own lives, and that goes by any age.”
Some, like Oliensis, feel this is the latest move in a manipulation scheme the Trump administration has been enacting.
“If you currently have fears, entirely valid, understand where they come from, [and] who is benefiting from you having these fears,” said Oliensis. “In my opinion, at least, the main purpose of [the Trump Administration’s Anti-Trans Agenda] is to get everyone hating a specific group because then they can expand that circle of people who are hated until it encompasses everyone.
Oliensis believes the way the community responds to this provocation is what matters.
“This is more importantly about how are we going to respond to hatred as a whole, and how are we going to respond to people using people as a means to an end,” said Oliensis. “The answer is not going to be given to us. The solutions to whatever our problems are not going to be given to us. We have to get them. We have to make them. We have to find a way to achieve them.”