After a slow start, demonstrations against President Donald Trump are picking up — in both size and location.

On April 5, more than 100,000 demonstrators filled the National Mall in Washington, D.C. — part of the largest nationwide protest yet of Trump’s second term. The protest in the nation’s capital was one of more than 1,400 protests across the country, with future protests in the works. The so-called “Hands Off” protest marked a tipping point in a swelling nationwide resistance to what many demonstrators view as the systematic dismantling of democratic values.

Attendees rallied against proposed Medicaid and Medicare cuts, transgender rights rollbacks, DEI program reversals, campus speech restrictions, mass deportation efforts, and sweeping trade policy changes. Some protesters see the demonstration as a warning of what’s to come in Trump’s second term.

“He’s going to destroy democracy if we don’t get our act together,” said Norman Leventhal, a retired attorney. 

For another protester, his concerns are centered around new public health policies and federal funding cuts — particularly those targeting his patients. Dr. Christopher Veal, a primary care physician based in Chicago, shared that four of his transgender patients died by suicide within weeks of federal restrictions on gender-affirming care.

Now, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a report urging conversion therapy for transgender youth, issuing claims that there is allegedly no association between gender dysphoria and suicide. While studies show gender-affirming care potentially mitigates depression and suicidal ideation for transgender youth experiencing gender dysphoria, Veal says the stakes are high.

“I have patients who are trying to stockpile medication because they can’t access it,” said Veal. “This is life saving care.”

NYCity News Service | May 20, 2025

Reporter and Co-Producer: Gibran Caroline Boyce

Photographer and Co-Producer: Adrian Connor