Several LGBTQ organizations rallied with lawmakers in Albany on March 25 to encourage the state to increase funding for a trans wellness fund and allocate tens of millions for a contingency fund that would cover the costs of gender-affirming care in the face of a hostile federal government.
The advocacy effort comes ahead of the April 1 deadline to finalize the state budget, which has gradually increased funding over the years for the Lorena Borjas Transgender Equity Fund — an initiative to provide financial support to organizations serving transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary individuals. Advocates hope to expand the fund from $4 million to $8 million annually.
The advocates are also asking the state to set aside $50 million for gender-affirming care — especially in light of the president’s executive order seeking to bar federal funding for providers of gender-affirming care — and steer more resources toward HIV assistance, mental health services, youth development, and housing access.
The event included representatives from the New Pride Agenda, Amida Care, Callen-Lorde, Gender Equality New York, In Our Own Voices, Caribbean Equality Project, the Ali Forney Center, Volunteer Lawyers Project of CNY, New York Transgender Advocacy Group, Hendrick Martin Institute, Make The Road NY, and Trans Latinx Network.
The event also featured several out state lawmakers, including State Senators Brad Hoylman-Sigal of Manhattan and Jabari Brisport of Brooklyn and State Assemblymembers Tony Simone of Manhattan, Jessica González-Rojas of Queens, and Harry Bronson of Rochester. Numerous other state lawmakers also attended.
“As discriminatory, anti-trans policies rain down on us from the Trump administration, transgender and gender nonconforming New Yorkers are counting on state leaders to stand up and fight back to protect us from violence and hate,” said Kei Williams, the interim executive director of the New Pride Agenda. “We are demanding that Governor Kathy Hochul and state leaders take decisive action by expanding the Trans Wellness and Equity Fund. The anti-trans hostility from the federal government is exacerbating our safety concerns and threatening our right to exist. An increase in funding for TWEF is urgent and necessary to support and protect the TGNC community across the state.”
Nadia Swanson, the director of advocacy at The Ali Forney Center, emphasized that funding for runaway and homeless youth programs in the state have always been underfunded, but now the “need is increasing exponentially.”
“We need our elected leaders to stand with us and provide the necessary funding to meet the growing need of Trans youth seeking shelter and stable housing. It is New York’s duty to ensure Trans kids have bright and healthy futures,” Swanson said.
Echoing calls to bolster the wellness fund, Hoylman-Sigal said the state government must do its part to show support for the entire LGBTQ community.
“LGBTQ+ Americans are actively under attack by the Trump administration,” Hoylman-Sigal said. “It is our responsibility to counter these attacks by using our resources here in New York to uplift and support all LGBTQ+ New Yorkers.”
The rally came about a week after dozens of groups and individuals sent a letter to state leaders with the same kind of request for a $50 million contingency fund for gender-affirming care. Advocates also rallied in Albany in February when more than 100 people met with elected leaders asking them to support the $50 million contingency fund.
