Tatiana Cruz shares coming to New York for care and a trans girl's disrupted treatment
Tatiana Cruz of Make the Road New York and the NYC Trans and Queer Coalition says she fled Florida for safety and care. She says affirming care improved her emotional well-being and helped her overcome substance abuse, and describes 17-year-old Jade losing care; supports Res 547 and Res 208.
Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you, Chairman Tiffany Caban, the members of the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, and the New York City Council for holding this important oversight hearing
on access to gender-affirming care and associated mental health outcomes for transgender and non-binary youth.
My name is Tatiana Cruz.
I am a trans activist and a member of Make the Road New York and NYC Trans and Queer Coalition.
I fled Florida and came to New York because I needed a place where I can live openly and authentically.
I needed community, safety, and access to health care that recognized me for who I am.
Here in New York, I found those things.
Gender-affirming care is medically necessary, evidence-based healthcare recognized by major medical organizations.
This is healthcare and not a political debate.
For me, access to this care has profoundly improved my emotional and psychological well-being.
It helped me feel comfortable in my body, confident in myself,
and able to live as the woman that I know myself to be.
All of these have also helped me even overcome substance abuse.
This is why this issue is deeply personal to me.
I also think about a young trans girl named Jade, whom I met when she was 12.
She is now 17.
I have watched her grow up, but I have also watched her struggle recently after losing access to gender-affirming care that she once received.
At 17, Jade should be focused on her future, her dreams, her education, and becoming the person that she wants to be.
She should not have to be struggling because access to her health care was taken away.
Her story reminds us that access to care cannot depend on where someone lives or on changing political circumstances.
That is why...
Yes, that is why New York Trans and Queer Coalition supports Resolution 547 and 208 and its call for a statewide gender-affirming care access program.
We need continuity of care, stable providers, statewide coordination, and long-term investment so transgender New Yorkers can access the health care that they need.
I came to New York because I needed the opportunity to live, heal, and thrive.
And I want Jade and every transgender young person to have the same opportunity without having to leave home to find it.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you for your testimony.