Pittsburgh city leaders joined protesters outside of UPMC’s downtown headquarters Thursday to demand the health system resume providing gender-affirming care for trans youth. UPMC has canceled top surgeries and other care for transgender patients under the age of 19, in compliance with an executive order from the Trump administration.
“In Pennsylvania, where we are working so hard to become a sanctuary state for trans individuals, [we] cannot allow this,” said Dena Stanley, founder and executive director of TransYOUniting. “It’s not going to be just our trans babies. They’re going to come for all of us.”
The executive order demands that institutions receiving federal research or education grants end what it calls “the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.” A federal judge blocked enforcement of the order in February after the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and other group sued on behalf of patients who had their care disrupted.
Still, health systems in several states have changed policies, tightened restrictions and canceled surgeries for minors. Many of those systems receive federal funding. UPMC declined to answer WESA’s inquiry about whether funding threats drove the policy change. The health system did not respond to questions on Thursday, but issued the following statement earlier this week:
“We continue to monitor directives coming from the federal government that affect the ability of our clinicians to provide specific types of care for patients under the age of 19. We continue to offer necessary behavioral health and other support within the bounds of the law.”
Several trans Pittsburghers spoke with WESA about how the interruption in their care has impacted their mental health and plans for the future. According to The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ suicide-prevention nonprofit, 46% of trans and nonbinary young people surveyed considered suicide in 2024 and 14% attempted it.
During the rainy afternoon rush hour Thursday, protesters crowded the sidewalk in front of UPMC’s headquarters along Grant Street, calling for the health system to reverse course and stand alongside Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ community. The demonstration was organized by community groups including TransYOUniting, Proud Haven and their joint endeavor, QMNTY Center, which provides support services for the LGBTQ community. Pittsburgh City Council members, Mayor Ed Gainey and Pennsylvania state Rep. La’Tasha D. Mayes spoke in support of providing care to trans kids.
“Trans rights are human rights,” exclaimed Gainey, who has been at odds with UPMC during his first term as Pittsburgh’s mayor. “If you’re worried about Donald Trump, don’t bow down, stand up [and] make sure that [gender-affirming] care is here for our trans community every single day!”
Gainey and the City of Pittsburgh have limited authority to pressure UPMC to change its policies. But in a statement later Thursday, Gainey said "health care providers, and definitely so called ‘public charities’ can't discriminate, and the city of Pittsburgh has laws on the books to ensure people have equal access to health care regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. My administration's law department is examining legal avenues to enforce our city's non-discrimination policies, and we expect health systems that operate here to follow the law."
Salem B., whose top surgery with UPMC was canceled just days before it was scheduled to take place, said they appreciated the showing of public support from the people gathered in the rain Thursday.
“I’m glad the mayor is supporting us,” they told WESA, adding that they hope UPMC will listen and reverse course.
Cori Fraser, Salem’s adopted parent, warned those gathered that restricting care for an 18-year-old trans patient like Salem may indicate future restrictions for older adults.
“They’re not just legislating what we can do as children, but they're also legislating what we can as adults,” Fraser said. “They are setting the stage to take away all gender-affirming health care.”
Rep. Mayes pledged on behalf of the Allegheny County delegation that Pittsburgh-area representatives would fight against any effort to limit gender-affirming care in Pennsylvania. She said UPMC should feel “shame” for adhering to the Trump administration’s agenda.
“We cannot accept any institution in our community that claims to be a nonprofit deny the trans community the care that they need and deserve,” Mayes said. “How dare you deny care to some of our most vulnerable community members? How dare you deny lifesaving, life-changing health care?”
A 2022 study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA found that trans and nonbinary youth who received gender-affirming medications like puberty blockers or hormone replacement therapy reported a 73% reduction in suicidal thoughts.
Among youth ages 13 to 17 in the U.S., about 1.4% identify as transgender, which amounts to roughly 300,000, according to the UCLA Law think tank Williams Institute.
While UPMC is not the only provider of gender-affirming care in Pittsburgh, it is the primary source of care for trans people under 19. Allegheny Health Network’s Center for Inclusion Health also cares for trans patients but treats far fewer minors.
Community organizers attempted to deliver a letter to UPMC CEO Leslie Davis during Thursday’s protest but were blocked at the front door by security at the Steel Tower. The letter, signed by more than a dozen local electeds, said gender-affirming care has “saved the lives of countless transgender children and youth” and ceasing to provide it puts “those very lives in imminent danger.”
“You are choosing to send a devastating message to the entire trans community that their health and futures are negotiable under political pressure,” the letter reads. “Continuing to provide comparable medical care to cisgender young people but not transgender youth is discrimination.”
The letter demands that UPMC reinstate gender-affirming care for new and existing patients at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh and establish an advisory committee with the LGBTQ community to discuss how to move forward. The letter also demands that UPMC support alternative providers of gender-affirming care should a court order require them to cease services.
“UPMC must reject political pressure and fulfill its responsibility to provide healthcare without discrimination,” the letter reads. “It is a moral atrocity to deny young patients medical treatment that saves lives.”
As the protest wrapped up along with the afternoon rush hour, Stanley said Pittsburgh will keep the pressure on UPMC.
“We’ll be back,” she said.
