By Lindsey Boylan (candidate in April 28’s NYC Council District 3 Special Election) | You can’t look at the news today without seeing backsliding and attacks on our fundamental rights in every corner of our country. It is pervasive and perverse, and it’s happening right here in New York. The Trump administration continues to attack our most marginalized, and in New York City, our trans siblings and trans youth have sadly been a consistent target. 

New York Attorney General Tish James recently mandated that NYU Langone re-start its program to provide gender affirming care for trans youth. The hospital system, as readers may be aware, suspended its trans healthcare program due to Trump’s threats to pull funding for the system if they refused. What kind of a city are we where our most prestigious and vital public services bow to a wannabe dictator, throwing children under the bus as collateral? The New York City I love, and the district I seek to represent, stood up together and made our opposition loudly known. I was proud to participate in rallies and actions around the city to show support for our trans youth and to demand that New York stand up to Trump and protect our trans and LGBTQ community. 

I’m running for City Council in the 3rd district, which includes Chelsea, Hells Kitchen, and the West Village. It’s a district that includes the Stonewall Inn and a thriving LGBTQ community. The question facing our district is the one that so many municipalities across the country are facing: do we allow Trump to dictate our policies, or do we fight back and build a durable city that can withstand his attacks? Will we actively defend civil rights, or will we allow ourselves to be intimidated and obey in advance? 

As your Council Member, I will never back down from defending trans youth, the LGBTQ community, and our city. In the Council, I will secure funding for community healthcare clinics that provide gender affirming care as a backstop to federal overreach. I will move to terminate contracts and subsidies for hospitals that do not comply with the Attorney General’s order to resume providing this lifesaving care. And I will support cutting off city contracts with Palantir, the surveillance company that contracts with the health and hospitals system. 

The Special Election to fill this Council seat is April 28, and Early Voting started April 18. If you live in District 3, your vote is a vote for a city that stands shoulder to shoulder with our most vulnerable, a city that lives up to its promises, a city where no one feels like they are expendable. I look forward to representing you in the Council, and to fighting every day for our community.

NOTE: The views expressed by our Guest Opinion writers are not necessarily those of Chelsea Community News.

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