28th Amendment: A Tool To Fight Online Sexual Abuse
July 07, 2026
Healthcare for Transgender Youth is Under Attack from the Trump Administration
July 07, 2026
Across the country, medical institutions providing care to trans youth are under attack. At Trump's command, medical institutions providing gender-affirming care to trans youth are losing funding and facing subpoenas for classified, individual medical records. In this sense, both trans individuals and allied institutions are at risk.
Recently, the Mount Sinai Hospital System in New York City was hit with a subpoena from the administration, requiring it to turn over classified medical records regarding adolescents who were provided gender-affirming care. Suddenly, parents are receiving calls informing them that their children's medical records are being handed over to the government. A similar subpoena was issued to the NYU Langone system in May, as well as several other medical systems in the past few months, signaling a targeted, intentional threat from the administration.
To be clear, these subpoenas directly threaten the adolescent patients as much as the medical institutions that provide treatment. The requested information is part of the administration's larger investigation into the methods of adolescent gender-affirming care, yet these subpoenas stretch farther to request specific identifying information on transgender patients.
Now, trans youth are fighting back and suing the Department of Justice to protect their private records. The ACLU, Lambda Legal, and the New York Civil Liberties Union have filed a class action lawsuit challenging the DOJ's subpoenas, arguing that such orders violate the right to privacy and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. Cases like this are why we need the recognition of the fully ratified Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA would provide significant legal protections to trans youth in their legal battle. As the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, it has the power to provide a vital safeguard by outlawing sex discrimination at the constitutional level, making it harder for legislatures or courts to weaken or overturn rights such as access to healthcare, marriage equality, or workplace non-discrimination for trans people. Trans youth need our help. We need to ensure that the ERA is finally recognized as part of the Constitution to help trans youth defend their identity and privacy.
