On the 73rd day of Donald Trump’s second crack at the presidency, the stock market tanked on fears of a trade war, a far-right conspiracy nut sat in the Oval Office and talked the president into firing six members of his national security team, and a TV doctor known for promoting questionable diet supplements was put in charge of Medicaid and Medicare.
Things seemed to be hopelessly skidding out of control. But on Downtown Pittsburgh’s Grant Street, about 200 people stood in the face of so much dark chaos and called for UPMC, one of the region’s wealthiest and most influential institutions, to stand up to Trump and take care of the region’s most vulnerable people: transgender youth.
It seemed a remarkable act of defiance: A community assaulted by a barrage of ugly Republican attack ads during the 2024 presidential election and now taking punches from the world’s most powerful leader chanted, “No erasure, no despair, trans folks are everywhere.” The crowd repeatedly hollered “shame” at the health care behemoth headquartered in the massive building looming over them. They stayed put for nearly two hours, despite getting soaked by a steady rain that caused the lettering on hand-made signs to run in dark streaks.
Their motivation? In late January, Trump signed an executive order threatening to pull federal funding from institutions that provide gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19. Then came reports that UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh had ceased such care. Those at Thursday’s rally interpreted that as UPMC throwing transgender youth under the bus in order to appease Trump. It was a theme echoed by a number of speakers.
“We are facing a federal government that is doing everything, everything in its power to deny us our humanity, erase us from history and existence,” said Maria Montaño, who made history by becoming the first openly trans woman to serve as press secretary for a Pittsburgh mayor. She served in that role, and then as communications director, for Mayor Ed Gainey from 2002-04. “And it comes as no surprise to me at all that UPMC has decided to comply in advance in order to do one thing, protect its profits.”
Another theme took the form of a warning: Trump’s attacks won’t stop with transgender youth. “They’re going to come for all of us,” said Dena Stanley of the advocacy group TransYOUniting. “Trans individuals, immigrants, Black people … poor people. Everyone.”
A few minutes later, community organizer Tanisha Long urged those in the crowd to stand together because “our struggles, our plights and our solidarity are cross-linked; they’re intertwined. You do not have to be trans to stand up for trans people. You do not have to be gay to stand up for gay people. You don’t have to be a woman to stand up for women’s lives. You don’t have to be Palestinian to stand up for Palestinians.”
“Being trans is not a disease,” Long added. “You are born that way, and you deserve to live that way.”
Although the crowd packed the wide sidewalk, it still seemed dwarfed by the 64-story U.S. Steel Tower, which now wears a crown of letters: “UPMC.” Speakers scoffed that this signified a power imbalance. Gainey pointed out that the people gathered had the courage to show up and look out for each other, and that this should be an example for the leaders of UPMC.
“We the people must always set the trend,” he said. “If you want to eliminate [the Trump administration’s] power, the people gotta stand together.” The current political climate called for “unprecedented unity,” he said.
Later, Gainey issued a statement indicating the city would challenge UPMC’s refusal to provide care for transgender youth:
“… [T]he 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 nondiscrimination policies, and we expect health systems that operate here to follow the law.”
One of the last speakers, Cori Fraser, spoke about their 18-year-old child, Salem, who was scheduled for gender-affirming surgery at UPMC, only to have that surgery canceled four days before the appointment. The surgeon indicated Trump’s threats were the reason. “We got a call from the surgeon, and he said, ‘I’m so sorry. I know you need this surgery, but if I do it, I’m pretty sure they will take my department away,’” Fraser said.
Salem turns 19 in a few months, Fraser said, and can wait for the surgery. “But for some kids, it is years,” he added. “And it is really hard to sit with that dysphoria, with that level of suicidality and, as Salem has talked about, just the everyday needing their body to be different, the wanting to die.”
The crowd grew quiet when Fraser began reading aloud a letter addressed to UPMC’s board of directors and CEO Leslie Davis. The letter was put together by TransYOUniting and signed by several local officials, including Gainey and a number City Council members and state representatives.
Gender-affirming care at UPMC “has been absolutely vital to the many young people who have depended on it for over a decade,” Fraser read. “You have saved the lives of countless transgender children and youth. Now you are putting those very lives in imminent danger and undoing years of community goodwill and trust you have tried so hard to rebuild.”
The letter demanded that UPMC reinstate full gender-affirming care for new and existing patients, establish a gender-affirming care advisory committee composed of transgender youth and community leaders, and not retaliate against LGBTQ+ communities. It also demands UPMC fund alternative sources of health care should a court order or law order it to stop providing services for young trans people.
Once Fraser finished reading, a handful of organizers attempted to deliver the letter to UPMC offices but were stopped by security personnel. Stanley, of TransYOUniting, then placed the letter on the floor of a revolving door at the building’s entrance. It lay there while a guard told the group, “Please get off the property.”
Steve is a photojournalist and writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he is currently on strike and working as a Union Progress co-editor. Reach him at smellon@unionprogress.com.