In response to children’s hospitals across the country complying with President Donald Trump’s recent executive order banning gender-affirming care for individuals under 19, transgender rights advocates staged protests outside several of these institutions. The demonstrations, drawing hundreds of participants, shut down bustling city streets and made an unmistakable impact on local communities. Notable protests took place outside the University of Virginia Health in Charlottesville, Washington D.C.'s Children’s National Hospital, and New York University-Langone in New York City, each serving as a direct rebuke of the hospitals’ decisions to preemptively follow an order with no clear enforcement mechanism.
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The Charlottesville UVA Health protest was the first to emerge in response to the new restrictions, mobilizing just two days after Trump’s executive order was made public. Despite the short notice, organizers managed to draw over 150 people, according to The Daily Progress. The demonstration was spearheaded by the queer-rights organization Charlottesville Gender Expansive Network in collaboration with the United Campus Workers of UVA, a labor union representing UVA employees.
Two days after the Charlottesville protest, demonstrators gathered in front of D.C. Children’s National Hospital, with hundreds of local community members rallying for transgender rights. The protest brought together parents, politicians, seasoned organizers, and transgender individuals, all holding signs in clear view of hospital administrators to oppose the sweeping restrictions on care for those under 19.
Less than a day later, the New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America staged a protest outside New York University - Langone, while also launching a letter-writing campaign that, as of this article’s writing, has resulted in nearly 63,000 letters sent to the CEO and trustees of NYU - Langone. This protest was among the largest, with demonstrators packed shoulder to shoulder in dense crowds along New York City's broad avenues. Protesters held signs displaying the contact information of NYU - Langone decision-makers, urging the public to voice their opposition to the hospital’s compliance with Trump’s executive order. Police were unable to disperse the protest, while a right-wing counter-protest drew only a handful of participants, their numbers in the single digits.
These protests are unfolding amid nationwide turmoil as Trump collaborates with Elon Musk in an attempt to pressure the U.S. Treasury into manually defunding government programs they oppose. This effort has sparked demonstrations outside the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has slashed funding to impoverished countries that rely on it for essential medical care. Protests have also erupted outside the U.S. Treasury in direct opposition to Musk’s influence over federal financial decisions. Additionally, in Asheville, North Carolina, an organically organized protest has taken shape against the heightened presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following Trump’s election. Protesters have faced direct opposition from local police attempting to suppress their demonstrations.
These protests are part of a rapidly expanding, interconnected movement aimed at fostering solidarity among marginalized communities as the Trump administration escalates attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, Black and Indigenous people of color, and immigrants. Even among more privileged groups, there is a growing recognition that Trump's policies threaten broad swaths of the American public. The surge in protests nationwide underscores this increasing unity, as communities come together in collective resistance.
This growing wave of resistance is evident in the numerous protests scheduled in the coming weeks, as both veteran and newly mobilized organizers coordinate actions against hospitals complying with anti-trans policies, increased ICE enforcement, and what many argue is an attempt by Trump and Musk to stage a coup on the federal government. In New York City, activists are planning a major demonstration in Union Square after additional hospitals—New York Presbyterian and Mt. Sinai—announced compliance with Trump’s executive order. In Washington, D.C., residents are organizing sustained protests outside the U.S. Office of Personnel Management throughout the week. Meanwhile, legal challenges against several of Trump’s executive orders continue to mount, with some already facing federal court injunctions.
The protection of marginalized communities will not come solely from elected officials or bureaucratic processes—it will come from sustained, organized resistance. History shows that real power lies not in centralized institutions but in the collective action of those who refuse to be divided. Authoritarian governments rely on fragmentation, banking on the idea that the public will see themselves as isolated rather than interconnected. As protests grow and solidarity strengthens across movements, the coming months may test just how powerful a unified public can be.
This article first appeared on Erin in the Morning.
