A video showing transgender activists injecting themselves with cross-sex hormones outside NYU Langone Health is spreading rapidly online, just days after the hospital reached an agreement with President Donald Trump's Department of Justice to cease providing sex-change treatments to minors.
In the footage, a person holding a bullhorn and reading from a script says, «We're taking our HRT here at the doors of the people who have given up to demystify, normalize, and celebrate our trans bodies in the face of NYU's cowardice,» referencing hormone replacement therapy drugs. At least several people in the video, all wearing masks outside the hospital, can be seen filling syringes and injecting themselves, including a person in a wheelchair.
A crowd of supporters, some holding signs reading «Protect Trans Kids» and «Resist,» looked on as the stunt was performed. Other protesters held a handmade banner reading «No compliance with Trump's bias.» The video, posted to X by Freedom News TV, drew harsh reactions from online viewers.
«This is so obviously a mental illness,» said online commentator Matt Van Swol. «You cannot watch this video and conclude anything else.» Author Wesley Yang said, «This is a truly crazed movement that has successfully normalized cultish pseudo-medical practices from the outermost fringe of human extremity as a part of suburban elementary school life across America. Surely everyone watching these bizarre spectacles understands this.» Tanya Tay Posobiec added, «I see addicts. Addicted to HRT. Addicted to attention. Addicted to constant validation.»
The protest follows last week's announcement that the DOJ reached agreements with NYU Langone and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center after investigating the institutions for potentially illegally carrying out on children «sex-rejecting procedures,» which proponents often describe as «gender affirming care.»
«Under the agreements, NYU and UPMC will cease providing these dangerous interventions to minors, which include administering puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones and performing surgical procedures,» a DOJ release said. NYU Langone also agreed to pay $8.5 million as part of the settlement, while UPMC agreed to pay $950,000. The DOJ made clear that the resolution does not confer liability on either hospital and maintains that the hospitals deny any wrongdoing.
«The Department of Justice is fighting to protect our nation's children and working tirelessly to reach agreements with hospitals to end so-called 'gender affirming care' for minors,» said Attorney General Todd Blanche in the DOJ's statement. «Today's resolutions send a clear message: hospitals that target children in these practices and then fraudulently obtain payment for the procedures will be held to account.»
The viral demonstration outside NYU Langone reflects the intensifying national debate over gender-affirming care for minors, as federal authorities pursue settlements with major medical institutions and activists stage public acts of defiance. The video has amplified both support for and opposition to the DOJ's actions, drawing attention to the emotional and political stakes for transgender individuals and their families.
The settlement with NYU Langone and UPMC is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to reshape how hospitals handle treatments for transgender minors. The DOJ has signaled it will continue to investigate institutions that provide such care, while activists vow to resist what they describe as government overreach into medical decisions.