New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is putting $15 million toward expanding services for transgender residents, according to a Friday report from Them.
The funding will go toward three new initiatives aimed at increasing access to transgender-related services in the city. Those include a direct access fund for transgender services, a call and text line intended to help people seeking transition-related support, and additional money for LGBTQ medical care, the outlet reported.
Mamdani’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Every New Yorker should have the freedom to live as themselves and access the healthcare they need,” Mamdani told Them. “As the federal government attacks transgender people and attempts to intimidate patients, families and providers, New York City is stepping up.”
“We will protect care, support the providers delivering it, and make clear that trans New Yorkers belong in this city. Healthcare is a human right, and we will do everything in our power to defend it,” he added.
The mayor’s office described the funding as “a proactive $15 million investment at a time of growing uncertainty and escalating attacks from the federal government,” according to a news release cited by Them.
New York City Council Member Justin E. Sanchez, who co-chairs the Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus, praised the announcement and framed it as one of the most meaningful developments of Pride Month.
“This is the best news that we’ve heard all Pride Month,” Sanchez told Them. “As fun the parades, balls, and celebrations have been, the work we do and the progress we continue to make in the face of adversity is what Pride is all about. I’d like to thank Mayor Zohran Mamdani for his understanding of the challenges that transgender people face every day, working with our Caucus, and delivering on his promise to protect them.”
The announcement comes as the Trump administration continues taking action against gender ideology policies across the country.
Transgender adults in the United States have reported higher rates of poor mental health than cisgender adults. Sixty percent of transgender adults said they experienced poor mental health on at least one day during a monthlong period, compared with 37% of cisgender adults, according to an August 2021 Center for American Progress fact sheet that cited 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data.
New York City has also recently pushed back against federal efforts to obtain medical records from transgender patients. Earlier in June, the city opposed federal grand jury subpoenas seeking those records, and a federal judge later issued an injunction blocking the Justice Department from obtaining them, Fox News reported Friday.
Mamdani had already moved earlier this year to expand the city government’s LGBTQ infrastructure. In March, he signed an executive order creating a new Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, which is tasked with coordinating city agency initiatives serving LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers.
