Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Dr. Anabel Ruggiero, Advocate from Transsexual Menace New York City
2:23:56
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163 sec
Dr. Anabel Ruggiero, representing Transsexual Menace New York City, advocates for increased funding for transgender healthcare and support in New York City. She draws parallels between historical persecution of transgender people and current threats, emphasizing the urgent need for financial support to combat what she views as fascist policies targeting the trans community.
- Requests $35 million in funding for trans healthcare and support, which amounts to about $700 per estimated transgender person in NYC
- Suggests unconditional cash transfers as an effective method to provide support to the transgender community
- Expresses grave concern about potential federal budget cuts and their impact on healthcare access
Anabel Ruggiero
2:23:56
Hello, I am Doctor.
2:23:58
Annabel Ruggiero and thank you for letting me have the opportunity to speak.
2:24:01
Today I am speaking on behalf of myself and other members of Transsexual Menace New York City.
2:24:07
To be explicit, our organization receives no money from the City Of New York nor expects to in 2026.
2:24:13
I'm here to I'm here in support of the NYC trans and queer provider advocacy coalition.
2:24:19
Let's start by contextualizing the Trump admin's treatment of trans people.
2:24:23
On 05/06/1933, the Nazis conducted their first organized book burning.
2:24:29
Their target, Doctor.
2:24:31
Magnus Hirschfield's nonprofit and its medical records and research.
2:24:35
The Institute of Sexology was at the frontier of gender affirming care.
2:24:40
On 02/12/2025, the National Park Service removed all references to trans people from the Stonewall National Monument, which is located right here in Manhattan.
2:24:50
I don't have time to cover every injustice here, my point is that trans people are threatened by fascism today.
2:24:56
There are actual, very real parallels between the Nazis' attempt to eliminate trans people and Trump's attempt to erase trans people from public life.
2:25:06
With that in mind, let's look at how much money our coalition is asking for from New York City.
2:25:11
Based on census data, a conservative estimate of the number of trans people in New York City is about 50,000.
2:25:16
I must stress that this is a lower bound.
2:25:19
Our coalition is asking for 35,000,000.
2:25:22
That sounds like a lot, but that's only $700 per trans person in New York City.
2:25:27
We're fighting a fascist felor administration.
2:25:29
$700 a person is a modest request.
2:25:33
That said, I think more than what our coalition asked for.
2:25:37
Magnus Hirschfield's personal model and the motto of the Institute of Sexology was Perscientium ad Justitium, which is butchered Latin for through science to justice.
2:25:46
In that spirit, can find some new ideas from scientific literature.
2:25:50
There's plenty of promising review studies on unconditional cash transfers.
2:25:54
I'd argue that the research reaffirms Hirschfield's belief that welfare yields benefits to society in excess of the original expense.
2:26:02
While I'm an engineer and non economist, I do personally believe that the best way for New York City to provide funding is to achieve equity would be to give trans people money directly with no strings attached.
2:26:14
And this should be done above the $35,000,000 we're asking for.
2:26:18
And if I can take one more second, I just want to make something explicit for the record.
2:26:23
If House is if the federal budget that the House passed actually makes it through the Senate's side into law, people are going to die across this country.
2:26:34
And I am very, very afraid.
2:26:38
Thank you.