Bowen Yang and Michelle Visage among stars calling for hospitals to be banned from NYC Pride march
The campaign follows moves by several major hospital systems to close or reduce services for transgender minors
By Callum Wells
A group of current and former NYC Pride grand marshals are calling on organisers to stop several major hospitals from taking part in this year’s Pride march.
The demand comes in an open letter organised by the Gender Liberation Movement (GLM), which argues that hospitals that have ended gender-affirming care for trans minors should not be allowed to participate in the event.
Among those backing the call are current grand marshals Bowen Yang, Dominique Jackson, Peppermint and Jay Walker of Gays Against Guns. Former grand marshals including Michelle Visage, TS Madison, Jazz Jennings, Ceyenne Doroshow and Raquel Willis have also signed the letter.
Which hospitals are named in the open letter?
The group is asking Heritage of Pride, the organisation behind NYC Pride, to bar any hospital system that has stopped providing gender-affirming care to trans young people. It is also calling for institutions that have cooperated with federal requests for patient records to be excluded.
Hospitals named in the letter include NYU Langone, Mount Sinai and New York-Presbyterian.
“Across the country, transgender youth and their families are facing an unprecedented assault on their rights, dignity, and access to healthcare,” the letter states.
“While many institutions have courageously defended trans youth and continued providing medically necessary care despite political pressure, several New York City hospital systems, including NYU Langone, Mt. Sinai, and New York Presbyterian, have instead chosen to preemptively end gender-affirming care for young people, capitulating to the attacks by the Trump Administration.”
Campaigners are asking Heritage of Pride to respond before the march on 28 June
According to GLM, the letter has also been signed by 22 LGBTQ+ community leaders, 14 LGBTQ+ organisations and 33 parents or family members of transgender children.
The campaign follows moves by several major hospital systems to close or reduce services for transgender minors amid pressure from the Trump administration.
In May, NYU Langone became the first hospital system to receive a criminal subpoena seeking records relating to patients who received gender-affirming care as minors between 2020 and 2026.
Campaigners are asking Heritage of Pride to respond before the march on 28 June.