Transgender policy
“I’m not even in the back of the bus. My community is being pulled by a rope around our neck by the bumper of the damn bus that stays in the front.”
— Sylvia Rivera, pioneer of the trans movement
“As a trans woman, coming to New York gave me a safe space to live and to feel like I could make it.”
— Dominique Jackson, actress and activist
Executive Summary
As Mayor, Jim Walden will protect trans New Yorkers with real action: funding for essential healthcare, expanding safe housing, and pressing for stricter enforcement of hate crimes laws. His administration will combat bigotry with facts and ensure NYC remains a safe, supportive city for trans people and the entire LGBTQIA+ community—rooted in dignity, inclusion, and common-sense protections. Jim will also start a new program, partnering with other blue cities and private-sector leaders, to replace lost federal funding for LGBTQIA+ mental health services and crisis care.
Transgender people exist and are a part of our community. They are not a threat to it. The current political environment—which demonizes trans people and peddles false information—is dangerous. It has stoked unfounded fears, led to violence against trans people, wasted resources, and resulted in discriminatory legislation.
Neither trans people, nor the LGBTQIA+ community, are in some “conspiracy” to brainwash your children. They are focused on the same issues as everyone: safety, good paying jobs, affordable housing, and healthcare. I know this from the close relationships I made with the trans community as I worked on pro bono matters with and for them over the years.[1] They are not, for example, in favor of kids getting hormone therapy without parental consent. They are not interested in pressuring kids to identify as LGBTQIA+. Yet, politicians now routinely stoke bigotry against the trans community for purely political gain.
Across the country, there are some 30 bills that, at bottom, want to erase any trans person, no matter their accomplishments, from school curriculums. In New York, hate crimes against trans people rose 140% between 2018 and 2023. Black trans women have been the primary targets of the violence and murder. Across the country, trans women are being moved to men’s prisons, where they will certainly be targeted, raped and killed. More broadly, funding for trans healthcare and suicide prevention is being cut. The list of hate is longer than this. We are seeing the normalization of vicious bigotry, plain and simple.
What trans people need now is a commitment to facts and common-sense policies that invoke understanding, safety and support. New York City has a thriving LGBTQIA+ community with an infrastructure of nonprofit organizations that provide a range of services and opportunities. But, even in New York City, the threat to those organizations, and the LGBTQIA+ community as a whole, is imminent.
New York City needs to remain vigilant and proactive in a number of areas to protect the fundamental rights of LGBTQIA+ people generally, but trans people in particular. Here is my 5-part plan:
Suicide Prevention
In response to the Trump administration’s plan to defund a suicide-prevention hotline for LGBTQIA+ kids,[2] I will create a new program to replace that funds (roughly $500m), making sure this hotline remains available for kids nationwide. If the Trump administration makes good on the threat, we will partner with other blue cities and private-sector allies to replace the funding—all of it—ensuring that LGBTQIA+ youth continue to have access to life-saving care.[3]
Healthcare
New York State law prohibits healthcare providers from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. All patients should expect to be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve whether it’s an emergency room visit or continuing care.
In addition to New York City hospitals, there are many nonprofit healthcare organizations throughout the five boroughs that provide critical services to the trans and broader LGBTQIA+ communities. All these organizations are currently under direct attack with federal funding cuts or, worse, the potential for revocation of 501(c)(3) status.
Mayor Adams allocated almost 1 billion dollars in additional money for various traffic programs. To my mind, healthcare for our LGTBQIA+ community is one of our most important priorities. If I cannot find other ways to fund better and more affordable healthcare for our LGBTQIA+ communities, I will use 20% of the traffic-program money, freeing about $200m to keep our LGBTQIA+ community safe and healthy. My staff and I will then work to direct the funds where needed most, using a process that is fully transparent and avoids any patronage or waste, making sure the money is used effectively.
Education
We will prioritize the safety of LGBTQIA+ students, parents and teachers across school communities by enhancing anti-bullying and harassment-reporting requirements and provide real consequences for bullies who target LGBTQIA+ students. Under this program, bullies will get specialized education and mentoring and, if their behavior does not change, they will face true accountability. To help reduce the number of potential victims, our LGBTQIA+ kids will get special supports. We will start an ambitious mentoring program to give LGBTQIA+ students additional support and resources. As Mayor, I will participate as a mentor. We will create a special internship program for LGBTQIA+ youth, including by providing stable funding for the Unity Work Programs. We will also make specific budget allocations for support groups for LGBTQIA+ educators and students.
Housing
Ignoring the law, New York City has refused to create meaningful shelters for homeless trans, nonbinary and gender nonconforming people (TGNC). We will create a dedicated modular-housing community for TGNC people, where we can co-locate supportive services, especially for LGBTQIA+ youth.
And, when will build new truly affordable housing (you can read about that policy here), we’ll give set-asides for TGNC people. We will choose areas and projects where they will be safest.
Legal
The trans community will be entitled to the same Fourteen Freedoms as all New Yorkers, from the Bill of Rights I issued on May 8, 2025. This includes, as Right # 10, the right “To make decisions about your body, and to live in harmony with your identity, free from undue government interference.” I will instruct the “NYC Freedoms Task Force”—a 50-lawyer litigation group I will form as Mayor—to proactively identify any imminent legislative or executive initiatives on the federal level targeting the trans community, and we will aggressively litigate to stop them. You can read about that policy here.
You can count on me to protect all New Yorkers, especially the most vulnerable. Hold me accountable.
New Yorkers deserve real leadership, not half-measures and excuses.
Jim Walden,
Candidate for Mayor
[1] Jim appears in the recent documentary, “I’m Your Venus,” which will be streaming on Netflix soon. https://www.indiewire.com/news/business/netflix-documentaries-six-buys-1235128129/
[2] The hotline is the “988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services,” which provides emergency crisis support to at-risk youth.
[3] I donated $1,000 to The Trevor Project, which serves at-risk LGBTQIA+ kids, in response to the potential funding cut. This was from personal, not campaign, funds.