More than 50 activists gathered Tuesday in Washington, D.C., protesting proposed federal rules that would restrict access to gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The demonstration was organized by the Gender Liberation Movement, with participation from ACT UP NY and ACT UP Pittsburgh. Protesters assembled outside the Hubert H. Humphrey Building, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Activists blocked the building’s entrance, held signs reading “Hands Off Our ‘Mones,” and chanted in support of trans youth. Authorities say 25 people were arrested for blocking access to the building. Those individuals are now in the custody of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department.
The protest coincided with the final day for public comment on the proposed rules. On the same day, 106 members of Congress sent a letter opposing the measures. The rules, proposed in December 2025 by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., would bar hospitals providing gender-affirming care to minors from participating in Medicare and Medicaid.
They would also prohibit federal Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program funds from covering such care and exclude gender dysphoria from protections under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
