Public Policy & Advocacy - Callen-Lorde

Public Policy & Advocacy

Callen-Lorde provides care – with action. In addition to directly providing high-quality, culturally responsive healthcare services, we advocate on the local, state, and federal level for legislation, regulation and sustainable sources of revenue and funding will support the health and wellness of our TGNB, Queer and BIPOC communities as well as advance health equity and racial justice.

  • Callen-Lorde believes healthcare is a human right, and comprehensive, quality healthcare should be available to all.
  • Callen-Lorde participates in grassroots advocacy efforts; we educate and engage our patients and community on matters relevant to our individual and community health.
  • Our advocacy and policy initiatives seek to promote sexual health, advance health equity and racial justice, centering Black, Brown, LGBTQIA+, people living with and impacted by HIV as well as those who have been historically disenfranchised.
  • We are committed to breaking down barriers and addressing the social determinants of health, such as housing.

Join the Fight!

Care with Action is a program to engage Callen-Lorde patients and community members in the advocacy we do to support the health and wellness of our TGNB, Queer, and BIPOC communities, as well as to advance health equity and racial justice. Join a community of activists who care about the future of LGBTQ+ health!

Our Accomplishments Over the Years

  • In 2016, we mobilized a national campaign to address a shortage of injectable estrogen, a life-saving hormone treatment for transgender women.
  • We have been at the forefront of the movement to End AIDS in New York State since 2014.
  • After years of denials from public and commercial insurers, in 2017 we convened a statewide network – now called Trans Health Advocates of New York (THANY) – to hold New York State regulators and insurers accountable. This coalition continues to meet monthly.
  • After the 2016 Presidential Election, we launched R.I.S.E. (Resilient Individuals for Strength and Empowerment) to provide our TGNB patients with civic and social justice education as well as mental health support.
  • In 2017, we led advocacy to ensure that young people could access PrEP and PEP without parental consent;  and in 2019 we again led advocacy to pass legislation that enables victims of sexual assault, who are minors, access a 28-day regimen of PEP without parental consent.
  • We have worked with allies and partners in coalition to pass numerous important bills for our community including the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, the Ban on Conversion Therapy (both in 2019) and the Repeal of Walking While Trans (2021)
  • Each year in February we mobilize staff and patients for an Annual New York State Advocacy Day.
  • We provide non-partisan information on local and national elections as well as opportunities to register to vote.
  • We led a year-long campaign to Save New York’s Safety Net and delay the transition of the Medicaid pharmacy benefit from Managed Care to Fee for Service. This move would have eliminated our ability to access millions of dollars in savings from the 340B federal drug discount program, dollars which are in turn reinvested in our care and services.