‘Honor your oath’: Hundreds confront NYU Langone hospital over caving to Trump on trans healthcare

Hundreds of people marched outside a New York City hospital center Tuesday evening to protest a deal it struck with the Trump administration to keep gender-affirming services closed to minors.

NYU Langone Health took a deal Friday to pay the federal government $8.5 million and block minors from its gender-affirming services. The hospital is one of many under investigation by the Justice Department for its program, and suspended services for trans youth in February.

Protesters called upon the hospital and two others in the city, Mount Sinai Health System and New York Presbyterian, to restore and protect services for youth. Christen Clifford, the parent of two transgender children who once relied on NYU Langone for care, called the services vital.

“The care was smooth. It was kind,” Clifford told The Advocate. “We spent a lot of time here, and it’s devastating that other families don’t have that.”

Protesters march across the street from the main campus of NYU Langone Health in Manhattan on Sept. 22, 2026. Jack Walker/The Advocate

Media representatives for the three hospitals did not respond to The Advocate's email requests for comment. Major medical associations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, still endorse gender-affirming care for minors experiencing gender dysphoria, where an individual does not align with the gender they were assigned at birth. Care like this is legal in New York state, but has faced increased scrutiny under the Trump administration.

Last December, the Trump administration threatened to revoke federal funding from hospitals that offer minors gender-affirming care, setting off a firestorm of preemptive program suspensions and closures across the country. The Justice Department has repeatedly demanded sensitive records pertaining to doctors and patients involved in the programs. Courts around the country have repeatedly stepped in and blocked the federal government from accessing those private records.

Protesters like Eliel Cruz, deputy director of the Gender Liberation Movement, said rather than stand up for their policies and trans patients, providers like NYU Langone and others nationwide are caving preemptively, taking “bullying” tactics from the Trump administration on the chin, hoping to avoid costs from further investigations or legal battles.

“These hospitals are claiming that they’re entering these settlements as a way to protect their patients. I’m sure that is part of it, but they could have actually fought this in court,” Cruz told The Advocate. “Not by settling with them and giving a financial settlement.”

Trans rights activists in New York City have staged multiple protests urging hospitals to uphold gender-affirming care for minors, including the Sept. 22 rally pictured here. Jack Walker/The Advocate

Protesters gathered Tuesday afternoon outside NYU Langone’s main Manhattan campus, then marched across the street, chanting and bearing signs and clothing in support of trans youth.

Attendees unfurled a long banner that read “Honor your oath,” referring to the promise doctors make to do no harm to patients, known as the Hippocratic oath. Some protesters staged a demonstration where they self-administered hormone therapy injections across from the hospital, highlighting the safety of the treatment.

The rally marked one among several staged by groups like the Gender Liberation Movement in response to the crackdown on gender-affirming care. Mount Sinai has also taken a deal with the Justice Department and ended care for minors, and New York Presbyterian has removed references to its youth services from its website.In response, LGBTQ+ advocacy groups have already picketed outside hospitals and government properties, and plan to continue doing so until care is restored.

“There has pretty much been a wall of silence,” said Kei Williams, executive director of the NEW Pride Agenda. “Everything that we hear in relationship to the two recent settlements at NYU [Langone] and Mount Sinai, we are only going off the Department of Justice’s press release. There has been no conversation from the institutions themselves.”

A protester at the Sept. 22 rally self-administers a hormone therapy injection across the street from NYU Langone Health's main campus in Manhattan. Jack Walker/The Advocate

Organizers had support from high-profile figures, like celebrities and politicians. Actor Elliot Page, Democratic congressional nominee Claire Valdez and New York City Council Members Harvey Epstein and Carl Wilson were in attendance, among others.

“We can’t just be thinking about going back to the status quo. Before it was already so insufficient,” Valdez told The Advocate. “We need to be advancing our true vision of what trans equality looks like.”

In New York City and nationwide, options for gender-affirming care for trans youth have become increasingly sparse. Many reputed programs have closed to minors under an increasingly tense federal landscape, reducing access for trans youth to medical services that can be vital for mental and emotional health.

For parents like Clifford, that makes deals like the one NYU Langone struck devastating.

“They’re throwing trans kids aside. They’re throwing real, life-affirming, gender-affirming health care aside,” Clifford told The Advocate. “I know what it’s like when a trans kid gets to become themselves, and I wish that for all trans kids. The fact that NYU [Langone] is taking this away is criminal.”