Transgender youth medical care ends at NYU Langone. Long Island advocates fear what's next.

NYU Langone Health's decision to end medical services for transgender youth — a move made as the federal government threatens to cut funds — has angered LGBTQ+ advocates and families on Long Island and across the state.

The hospital system's announcement this week blamed the "current regulatory environment." The Trump administration has threatened to withhold Medicare and Medicaid funds from health systems that provide gender-affirming care for people under the age of 18. It has also likened puberty blockers, hormones and surgical procedures to "chemical and surgical mutilation."

Gender-affirming care covers a number of services for people who identify as transgender and  gender-nonconforming. It ranges from regular checkups, health screenings and psychological counseling to receiving hormone blockers and surgery. Studies have shown teens who seek and receive these services are less likely to be depressed and suicidal.

Cameron Wilson, a transgender 19-year-old from Medford who started taking puberty blockers while still in high school, said if he hadn't had access to them at that age he "probably wouldn't have made it to age 19."

"I just feel a lot more confident in who I am," he said, adding: "It's just very harmful, and it's scary to be in this country right now as an LGBTQ person." 

Shortly after taking office in January 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order saying the government will only recognize two sexes: male and female. Another executive order, titled "Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation," called for actions to end gender-affirming care for transgender people under the age of 19. 

In December, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it was proposing a new rule that would "bar hospitals from performing sex-rejecting procedures on children under age 18 as a condition of participation in Medicare and Medicaid programs."

The agency said these medical services expose young patients to "irreversible damage, including infertility, impaired sexual function, diminished bone density, altered brain development and other irreversible physiological effects."

NYU Langone said in a statement: "Given the recent departure of our medical director, coupled with the current regulatory environment, we made the difficult decision to discontinue our Transgender Youth Health Program.

"We are committed to helping patients in our care manage this change. This does not impact our pediatric mental health care programs, which will continue," the statement said.

Both Northwell Health and Stony Brook offer mental and physical health services for transgender youth on Long Island. Wilson received his care through a Northwell Health center in Suffolk County. Neither system responded to inquiries Thursday about whether there would be changes to their services.

There are more than 300,000 transgender youths ages 13 to 17 in the United States, according to a report by the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law. It is difficult to determine how common it is for transgender youths to receive treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone medications, but those treatments appear to be "rare," the report found.

 According to a 2025 report by the state Department of Health, roughly 1.4% of American adults say they are transgender, gender-nonconforming, nonbinary or intersex. The rate is higher among young adults. Among those ages 18 to 24, 3% say they are transgender, according to the report.

The number of New York State adults who report being transgender has more than doubled in recent years, from about 90,000 in the 2014-16 period to more than 208,000 in the 2021-22 period.

"Long Island is greatly impacted by this decision," said David Kilmnick, of the Hauppauge-based NY LGBT Network. Many Long Island families go to New York City for gender-affirming treatment, either because that’s where their preferred providers are located or because they’re concerned about harassment or discrimination if members of their community know they’re receiving that care, he said.

"For families, you know, this isn't political," Kilmnick said. "It's about keeping their children healthy, supported and alive. Because when trusted medical institutions such as NYU Langone withdraw care, parents are left searching for options, and young people are left feeling abandoned."

Juli Grey-Owens, a transgender woman who is executive director of Gender Equality New York, said the lack of gender-affirming care has a direct impact on the mental health of people in the trans community.

"Without that care, many of our community members may end up with self-harm and suicide," she said. 

She said there is worry that Northwell and Stony Brook could scale back their services under the threat of lost federal funds.

In the 1970s, she said, "there was no gender-affirming care available anywhere," and transgender people resorted to dangerous procedures and inappropriate medications.

"When you do self-medication, you expose yourself to potential dangers," she said.

Wilson, who is now using hormones to continue his transition, is feeling good about pursuing a future in computers. He said he feels better physically as well, taking his dog, Winter, for long walks and working out at the gym.

"We're just people too," he said. "And we deserve health care."