As Pride Month Begins, SDNYC and New York Officials Denounce Reconciliation Bill's Attack on LGBTQ+ Community
NEW YORK, NY – Last week, House Republicans passed Donald Trump’s tax scam in the dead of night while most New Yorkers were sleeping, slashing key programs like health care and food assistance to extend huge tax breaks for billionaires. The bill poses a severe threat to critical programs that disproportionately serve the LGBTQ+ community – especially lower-income New Yorkers, those living with HIV, and New Yorkers facing food insecurity. Trump’s bill is especially harmful to the transgender community, cutting off federal Medicaid and Affordable Care Act funding for medically necessary care for trans people of all ages.
As Pride Month begins, The Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC denounces the bill as a heartless and immoral attack on the safety and health of our community, and joins with our Congressional leaders in working to ensure this horrifying bill is dead on arrival in the Senate.
Read more about how the bill would impact LGBTQ+ New Yorkers here:
A Last-Minute Provision Targets Transgender People On Medicaid and ACA Plans. At the eleventh hour, Republicans added a provision to the GOP tax scam preventing states from offering medically necessary care to all trans people who receive health care through Medicaid or ACA marketplace plans.
Rips Away Health Care From 15 Million People Nationwide By Slashing Medicaid and The Affordable Care Act. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that Trump’s tax bill could kick 13.7 million people off Medicaid, which is a critical source of coverage for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers and disproportionately serves members of our community, including 21 percent of trans people and 40 percent of people living with HIV. Medicaid is also the largest payer for HIV care in the country.
Slashes Food Assistance, Which LGBTQ+ People Disproportionately Rely on. The GOP bill immediately rips away food assistance entirely from at least 3 million people, and slashes future food assistance benefits for all 40 million SNAP recipients. LGBTQ+ New Yorkers face higher poverty rates (22-25 percent for LGBTQ+ adults vs. 16 percent of nontransgender, straight adults) and experience higher rates of food insecurity than non-LGBTQ+ New Yorkers. Women, younger New Yorkers, and LGBTQ+ people of color are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity and face a high risk of crisis if the bill successfully defunds SNAP.
Bars Planned Parenthood Funding. The GOP bill bars funding to Planned Parenthood, which serves as an affirming, affordable health care option for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers that has historically been committed to safeguarding and providing reproductive freedom and care to all who need it.
Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC President Gabriel Lewenstein, said, ”The House Reconciliation Bill is an appalling attack on the health and safety of millions of Americans. Transgender people are once again being callously targeted to create a public distraction from the devastating cuts to our nation’s safety net programs, including Medicaid and SNAP. Trans people deserve rights, access to health care, and dignity. Instead, this bill would strip away lifesaving care from trans people across the country - along with millions of others in need. Thank goodness we have fighters at the federal level representing New York State who are standing up to defend our community and stop these provisions from becoming law.”
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer said, “Last week House Republicans passed their dangerously radical tax plan, which upends funding for programs vital to vulnerable populations—especially the LGBTQ+ community—to give tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. There is nothing beautiful about the biggest cuts to Medicaid—which provides critical coverage for many trans New Yorkers— in American history. There is nothing beautiful about cutting SNAP benefits so children and others who rely on this critical food assistance program go hungry. Senate Democrats will oppose this morally bankrupt bill with every fiber of our being.”
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said, "The Trump reconciliation bill props up some of our nation’s wealthiest with lavish tax breaks they don’t need, at the expense of working-class Americans looking for relief. This bill is an attack on all New Yorkers basic needs – all while stripping access to food, education, and other essentials for New York children, families, and seniors. I stand with our LGBTQ+ New Yorkers against these devastating cuts. I am a no on this bill, and will oppose it with every fiber of my being.”
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “Trump’s One Big Ugly Bill rips healthcare and food assistance away from millions of New Yorkers in order to provide tax cuts to the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected. The Republican plan would be especially harmful to LGBTQI+ New Yorkers, with bans on critical health services and cuts to SNAP that would lead to further food insecurity. Far Right extremists barely got the bill out of the House, we must keep the pressure on and stop them in the Senate. House Democrats will continue to push back against extremist Republicans who are determined to attack the services that New Yorkers, including the LGBTQI+ community, depend on to survive.”
Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke said, "While the American people slept, Republicans passed the largest cut to healthcare in our nation’s history. Their Big Ugly Bill is an attack on marginalized groups across the country, and the LGBTQ+ community is tragically no exception. Not only does it kick close to 13.7 million people off Medicaid, but it will also have devastating impacts on individuals living with HIV, people of color, and transgender Americans. By harshly reducing SNAP benefits, this bill will also increase food insecurity and further severe hunger amongst these already vulnerable populations."
"House Democrats voted unanimously against the outlandish plans of these extremists who are hell-bent on taking from the less fortunate to line their billionaire friends' pockets. In the aftermath of its passage, we have worked day and night to ensure the public is fully aware of this sadistic tax scam. No matter what the next step Republicans take to continue their crusade of cruelty, I am unwavering in my commitment to protect the LGBTQ+ within my District, New York, and around the country."
Congressman Dan Goldman said, "By targeting gender affirming care, federal funding for Planned Parenthood, and critical government services that the LGBTQ+ community relies on such as Medicaid and SNAP, the GOP budget bill for billionaires pushes vulnerable communities even further to the margins to make way for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. This is not fiscal responsibility. This cruel budget would kick nearly 14 million Americans off their insurance and slash SNAP benefits for millions, all while raising the debt by trillions of dollars. It gives hedge fund managers a bigger tax cut than our firefighters and our teachers. I urge the Senate to reject this irresponsible budget and pass a bill that helps the working Americans they were elected to serve.”
Congresswoman Grace Meng said, "The GOP budget bill is a disaster for so many in New York and throughout the nation, and that includes the LGBTQ+ community. From taking away health care to slashing SNAP benefits, this cruel and callous legislation would devastate the most vulnerable in our city and state, all to provide tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. We deserve better, and as the measure heads to the Senate, I will keep up the fight against these unconscionable cuts."
Congressmember Jerry Nadler said, "I unequivocally condemn Donald Trump’s dangerous reconciliation bill that slashes health care and food assistance for millions of American families in order to fund massive tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. Among its most egregious provisions are those that target the LGBTQ community. This bill is a direct assault on their rights and their health: it would deny transgender Americans access to lifesaving, medically necessary care, ban essential health benefits under the Affordable Care Act, and strip food and health assistance from millions of families.
In New York, thousands of transgender people would lose coverage for care supported by every major medical association. Queer families already facing economic hardship would be pushed further into crisis. And all of it is being done to enrich the wealthiest corporations and individuals in the country.
I stand with the Stonewall Democratic Club and LGBTQ New Yorkers in rejecting this legislation and will do everything in my power to ensure it never becomes law. The Democratic Party must remain steadfast in defending the health, rights, and dignity of every member of our community.”
Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said, “Last week, Republicans voted to ban gender-affirming care and rip healthcare away from nearly 14 million people to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. These cuts target the most vulnerable people in our communities, including LGBTQ+ New Yorkers who already face barriers to health care. I was proud to stand up and fight this bill last week. We cannot allow Republicans to barter our communities’ health and well-being for tax cuts for billionaires’ yachts and Bugattis.”
For further press inquiries, please contact StonewallDemocraticClubNYC@gmail.com
