In New York, activists have interrupted a speech by the New York state health commissioner to demand Medicaid coverage for transgender healthcare. A 1998 regulation bars transgender people in New York from accessing hormone therapy and other forms of care through Medicaid. On Wednesday, members of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project took over the stage at a health conference during a keynote address by Commissioner Howard Zucker. They displayed a banner with the hash tag “#TranshealthcareNOW.” Member Reina Gossett spoke from the stage for several minutes.

Reina Gossett: “We’re here to say that right now the New York State Department of Health has a regulation that specifically excludes transgender people from accessing healthcare under Medicaid. Commissioner Howard Zucker has the power to change that. Please join us in demanding that Commissioner Zucker and the Department of Health end discrimination against transgender people in the great state of New York.”

In a possible victory for transgender rights at the federal level, the Department of Health and Human Services is expected to announce an end to Medicare’s blanket ban on sex reassignment surgery.