Activists protest HHS rules against gender-affirming care; 24 arrested

More than 50 activists protested Tuesday in Washington, D.C., over proposed federal rules that would effectively block access to gender-affirming care for transgender minors.

The demonstration was organized by the Gender Liberation Movement with participation from members of ACT UP NY and ACT UP Pittsburgh. This was the final day for public comment on the rules.

Also Tuesday, 106 members of Congress sent out a letter opposing the rules.

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The protesters blocked the entrance to the Hubert H. Humphrey Building, which houses the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They held a sign reading “Hands Off Our ’Mones,” meaning hormones, and chanted, “HHS — RFK — Trans Youth Are No Debate” and “No Hate — No Fear — Trans Youth Are Welcome Here.” Twenty-four of the protesters were arrested for blocking the entrance and are now in custody of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. proposed the rules in December. If finalized, the rules would bar hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors from participating in Medicare and Medicaid, prohibit federal Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program funds from covering such care nationwide, and roll back transgender-inclusive civil rights protections by excluding gender dysphoria from Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Kennedy, Donald Trump, and other members of the administration oppose gender-affirming care and have gone so far as to deny the existence of trans people.

Related: Health policy expert to RFK Jr.: You can't ban trans youth care this way

“We want trans youth and their loving families to know that we see them, we cherish them, and we won’t let these attacks go on without a fight,” GLM cofounder Raquel Willis said in a press release. “We also want all Americans to understand that Trump, RFK, and their HHS won’t stop at trying to block care for trans youth — they’re coming for trans adults, for those who need treatment from insulin to [selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, a type of antidepressant drugs], and all those already failed by a broken health insurance system.”

“It is shameful and intentional that this administration is pitting communities against one another by weaponizing Medicaid funding to strip care from trans youth. This has nothing to do with protecting health and everything to do with political distraction,” added GLM cofounder Eliel Cruz. “They are targeting young people to deflect from their failure to deliver for working families across the country. Instead of restricting care, we should be expanding it. Health care is a human right, and it must be accessible to every person — without cost or exception.”

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Kennedy has called gender-affirming care for youth unsafe and contended it does not meet professionally recognized standards of health care. But every major medical association endorses this care, which depending on the individual could include a combination of psychotherapy, social support, and puberty blockers and hormones. Among those organizations are the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Under threats to funding from the Trump administration, even without the new rules, many hospitals have quit providing this care to young people.

The congressional letter went out to Kennedy, stating in part, “If finalized, these rules will harm our transgender constituents and interfere with parents’ ability to provide their transgender children with the medically necessary care they, their children, and their doctors agree are needed. Further, these rules exceed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) statutory authority—and set a dangerous precedent of expanding the federal government’s role in the regulation of the practice of medicine. We urge CMS to abandon any effort to finalize these rules so our transgender constituents and their families can continue to get the medical care they need.”

The letter concluded, “The medical care that transgender young people receive is medically necessary and supported by every major U.S. medical and mental health association. These proposed rules would severely restrict the ability of parents of transgender young people to get their children the medical care they need and run afoul of federal law. We strongly oppose these proposed rules being finalized and urge CMS to abandon this rulemaking.” The letter was copied to CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz.

The effort was led by Congressional Equality Caucus Cochair Rep. Becca Balint, Transgender Equality Task Force Cochairs Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Rep. Sara Jacobs, and Equality Caucus Vice Chairs Rep. Maxine Dexter, Rep. Andrea Salinas, and Rep. Mike Quigley.

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