Here is some really cool video for you (specifically minutes 83:13 through 85:40). On Tuesday, Dec 3, at a NY State health summit overseen by NYS health commissioner Nirav R. Shah, activists from the longtime-transgender-serving Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) got up on stage with posters to demand that NY Medicaid start covering transgender health treatments such as gender-reassignment surgery and hormone therapy. They were preceded by an audience member who got up to the microphone to make that demand for them.

As reported here by GLAAD, which has partnered with SRLP on this issue:

“Thank you for your comments, I really appreciate your spotlighting certainly one of the bigger disparities we need to face and confront as a society,” said Shah. “The issues are absolutely real, and we are working hard with the Governor’s commitment to try to address these issues as broadly as possible. New York has been a leader, and continues to be a leader, in promoting transgender issues, and I would love to continue the conversation after this directly with you and with your folks.”

Despite Shah’s seemingly concerned statement, members of SRLP who had been displaying a banner calling for trans-inclusive Medicaid during his answer were told to leave the Health Summit immediately, and were followed to the door. Shah’s comments are confusing given his previous reception of concerns about the regulation. Recently, the New York Department of Health failed to respond to requests for comment from Al Jazeera for a report on SRLP and GLAAD’s Healthcare for All campaign. In 2011, after the New York Post reported that a Medicaid Redesign Task Force had proposed covering healthcare for transgender people under Medicaid, Shah told the Associated Press, “No consideration is being given to any change in current state policy and any proposal to have gender reassignment surgery funded by Medicaid would be rejected.”

In conjunction with the campaign, Reina Gossett, a transgender woman who appears in the PSA series, launched a Change.org petition calling New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Health Commissioner Shah to repeal Medicaid’s discriminatory regulation. The petition has over 2,000 signatures.”