Bullying hospitals into hurting some of their patients by forcing them to choose between harming some of their patients or losing funding for all of their patients to circumvent having to actually pass legislation shouldn't be possible; the president shouldn't have unilateral power to overrule medical science. Trans people are not going back, we're just going to get louder.
Thats a good point, he wouldn't be getting away with this garbage without the complicity of congress and the courts. Sometimes the fash seems unilateral but I need to remember that there is a pyramid of complicity beneath the pedo in chief.
I think we need our own dedicated treatment centers, serving only trans people, which don't expect or rely on grants or remuneration from any government. They would have to be willing to forego Medicaid and Medicare payments - to go fully out of pocket if necessary. We need centers, if only a few of them, that can provide all types of care, from GA counseling, through plastic and reconstructive surgery - centers protected by deep-blue-state laws that will never close their doors. Care for trans people should, at the very minimum, be one domestic flight or train ride away.
This is deeply distressing, yet of course is a highly predictable consequence of the current administration. Many saw this coming months ago. Adult care is of course next on the chopping block.
Really, the only recourse at this point is for AGs to enforce state law and hold the hospitals accountable. What about the families who spent $$$ moving out of red states to get their kids care, only to now have that care cancelled in blue states?
This is good news from Boston Children’s. I hope others follow suit or are influenced by their resolution.
“A Message from Boston Children's:
You may be aware that in states across the country there is a recent increase in proposed legislation aiming to restrict the rights of transgender and gender diverse youth. Many of these bills aim to restrict access to medical care and limit children and adolescents who identify as gender diverse from participation in sports.
Boston Children’s Hospital has always been and always will be committed to providing the best care for ALL of our patients, regardless of their gender identity. The belief that all children deserve the opportunity to live, grow and thrive with love and support, is foundational to who we are and what we do.
At Boston Children’s, we are proud to be home to the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program in the United States, the Gender Multispecialty Service (GeMS), which has cared for more than 1,000 families to date. We believe in a gender-affirmative model of care, which supports transgender and gender diverse youth in the gender in which they identify. This is a standard of care grounded in scientific evidence, demonstrating its benefits to the health and well-being of transgender and gender diverse youth. In addition to supporting our patients and families, we stand with our colleagues who may identify as transgender or gender diverse, those who provide care to transgender youth and who are allies to the transgender community.
The proposed bans on medical care, sports participation and other legislation aiming to restrict the rights of transgender and gender diverse youth are in direct opposition to our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusivity, as well as the standard of care that we live by. Here in Massachusetts, we have been fortunate—there has not yet been movement on any of these initiatives. You may recall that in 2016, Massachusetts voters upheld legislation designed to protect the rights of transgender residents in public accommodations. Boston Children’s was proud to be part of the coalition that worked in support of that ballot question.
I also want to let you know that Boston Children’s has signed on as an endorsing organization of the Equality Act, which is federal legislation that would provide affirmative, legal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ Americans both in the workplace and the community by adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected characteristics in federal civil rights laws.
We are here to affirm, uplift, and advocate for transgender and gender diverse youth, and we remain committed to doing all we can to support their care and well-being.”
And yet unnecessary surgical intervention for intersex babies and children is still allowed to happen, causing so much harm. Why is it okay to mutilate intersex children, but not provide necessary and clinical care (which rarely includes surgery) to trans youth? That question is rhetorical because we all know the truth, that this has nothing to do with protecting children, and only about enforcing White Patriarchal gender stereotypes.
True, that's also completely unnecessary. But, as far as I'm aware (so please correct me if I'm wrong), circumcision doesn't have a reasonable chance of causing long term health issues (physical and mental), and cause infertility.
I don’t disagree on the bit about corporations not being people. But do with the rest. When you have your GC counseling that your fiduciary duty to shareholders etc, etc etc. you make different decisions than you do in your personal life.
Hardly. Where in the article was an individual mentioned. You have chosen to add your own gloss to it and to assign blame to individuals. You are of course able to make that point. I disagree with it however, I believe this is the fundamental problem with our society: people want to blame individuals. And this blaming of individuals does nothing to dismantle the systems that are the actual problem. However, you do not need to agree with me.
I am at no point saying that boards of directors and/or management should not be lobbied or pressured. I just want us to understand that the default positions of institutions and the systems built to protect them in our society is towards cowardice and non-action and therefore long term change should look to dismantle these systems and not just target specific individuals.
In Aug last year, my son was turning 17. We had long planned to wait for any surgery until he turned 18. Then Trump was far from winning. But I had a funny feeling, and on a call with my son's Kaiser social worker, I said I think we should get the surgery. If he wins, I don't know if you can have it later. His surgeon, who we had already met when we first started in the youth trans clinic, had an opening. By the end of Aug my son was recovering from top surgery. It was the single best decision we have made in his care so far. I am so disappointed in Kaiser right now, my son's boyfriend, 18, just found out he might not get his scheduled surgery next month.
Just another bunch of morons to bend the knee, but i will bet that this is also a way to save a dollar by not covering trans patients in an effort to improve the bottom line and the hell with their patients who need help
The abject Hatred that this Administration is inflicting upon us in the Transgender community is horrifying! But the amount of CRAVEN COWARDICE coming from the American Healthcare System is Astounding! This Administration is committed to the Transgender Community Genocide and our Totally Inadequate Health Care System is going down the same path that destroyed 10’s of millions of lives during the last World War! YOU ARE COMMITTING GENOCIDE AGAINST MY PEOPLE! WHY ARE YOU SO AFRAID OF ME!!!??? 👿👿👿👿
Bullying hospitals into hurting some of their patients by forcing them to choose between harming some of their patients or losing funding for all of their patients to circumvent having to actually pass legislation shouldn't be possible; the president shouldn't have unilateral power to overrule medical science. Trans people are not going back, we're just going to get louder.
"the president shouldn't have unilateral power to overrule medical science."
They do not have that power. At the immediate politcal level, you have to have a branch of the government on your side to do anything about it.
Thats a good point, he wouldn't be getting away with this garbage without the complicity of congress and the courts. Sometimes the fash seems unilateral but I need to remember that there is a pyramid of complicity beneath the pedo in chief.
I think we need our own dedicated treatment centers, serving only trans people, which don't expect or rely on grants or remuneration from any government. They would have to be willing to forego Medicaid and Medicare payments - to go fully out of pocket if necessary. We need centers, if only a few of them, that can provide all types of care, from GA counseling, through plastic and reconstructive surgery - centers protected by deep-blue-state laws that will never close their doors. Care for trans people should, at the very minimum, be one domestic flight or train ride away.
alternative institutions are the answer. we will keep us safe
This is deeply distressing, yet of course is a highly predictable consequence of the current administration. Many saw this coming months ago. Adult care is of course next on the chopping block.
Really, the only recourse at this point is for AGs to enforce state law and hold the hospitals accountable. What about the families who spent $$$ moving out of red states to get their kids care, only to now have that care cancelled in blue states?
This is good news from Boston Children’s. I hope others follow suit or are influenced by their resolution.
“A Message from Boston Children's:
You may be aware that in states across the country there is a recent increase in proposed legislation aiming to restrict the rights of transgender and gender diverse youth. Many of these bills aim to restrict access to medical care and limit children and adolescents who identify as gender diverse from participation in sports.
Boston Children’s Hospital has always been and always will be committed to providing the best care for ALL of our patients, regardless of their gender identity. The belief that all children deserve the opportunity to live, grow and thrive with love and support, is foundational to who we are and what we do.
At Boston Children’s, we are proud to be home to the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program in the United States, the Gender Multispecialty Service (GeMS), which has cared for more than 1,000 families to date. We believe in a gender-affirmative model of care, which supports transgender and gender diverse youth in the gender in which they identify. This is a standard of care grounded in scientific evidence, demonstrating its benefits to the health and well-being of transgender and gender diverse youth. In addition to supporting our patients and families, we stand with our colleagues who may identify as transgender or gender diverse, those who provide care to transgender youth and who are allies to the transgender community.
The proposed bans on medical care, sports participation and other legislation aiming to restrict the rights of transgender and gender diverse youth are in direct opposition to our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusivity, as well as the standard of care that we live by. Here in Massachusetts, we have been fortunate—there has not yet been movement on any of these initiatives. You may recall that in 2016, Massachusetts voters upheld legislation designed to protect the rights of transgender residents in public accommodations. Boston Children’s was proud to be part of the coalition that worked in support of that ballot question.
I also want to let you know that Boston Children’s has signed on as an endorsing organization of the Equality Act, which is federal legislation that would provide affirmative, legal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ Americans both in the workplace and the community by adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected characteristics in federal civil rights laws.
We are here to affirm, uplift, and advocate for transgender and gender diverse youth, and we remain committed to doing all we can to support their care and well-being.”
That was 2018, not 2016, that we upheld the legislation protecting our rights to public accommodations. Surprised Boston Children's got that wrong.
And yet unnecessary surgical intervention for intersex babies and children is still allowed to happen, causing so much harm. Why is it okay to mutilate intersex children, but not provide necessary and clinical care (which rarely includes surgery) to trans youth? That question is rhetorical because we all know the truth, that this has nothing to do with protecting children, and only about enforcing White Patriarchal gender stereotypes.
"unnecessary surgical intervention for intersex babies and children is still allowed to happen, causing so much harm."
Nothing makes it more clear this is only about enforcing Social Conservative biases than that.
Not only intersex. About 40% of all american-born babies get unnecessarily circumcised. Which of course remains perfectly legal for some reason.
True, that's also completely unnecessary. But, as far as I'm aware (so please correct me if I'm wrong), circumcision doesn't have a reasonable chance of causing long term health issues (physical and mental), and cause infertility.
If my teen loses care in Massachusetts we're heading to Toronto, which many families cannot afford.
The deep cowardice of corporations.
Corporations can not be cowards, they do not even really exist. This is the cowardice of the administrators involved, individually.
I don’t disagree on the bit about corporations not being people. But do with the rest. When you have your GC counseling that your fiduciary duty to shareholders etc, etc etc. you make different decisions than you do in your personal life.
And they informed their shareholders properly and let those shareholders make a decision?
Many of the orgs mentioned above are non-profits answerable to trustees, not shareholders. There is a major difference.
And these trustees are fully informed and on board? Are they unknown and unlobbyable?
No. But that doesn’t obviate my point.
And because this is about the cowardice of individuals, I don't believe you have one.
Hardly. Where in the article was an individual mentioned. You have chosen to add your own gloss to it and to assign blame to individuals. You are of course able to make that point. I disagree with it however, I believe this is the fundamental problem with our society: people want to blame individuals. And this blaming of individuals does nothing to dismantle the systems that are the actual problem. However, you do not need to agree with me.
I am at no point saying that boards of directors and/or management should not be lobbied or pressured. I just want us to understand that the default positions of institutions and the systems built to protect them in our society is towards cowardice and non-action and therefore long term change should look to dismantle these systems and not just target specific individuals.
Shutting this care down may activate legal asylum seeking for Canada?
In Aug last year, my son was turning 17. We had long planned to wait for any surgery until he turned 18. Then Trump was far from winning. But I had a funny feeling, and on a call with my son's Kaiser social worker, I said I think we should get the surgery. If he wins, I don't know if you can have it later. His surgeon, who we had already met when we first started in the youth trans clinic, had an opening. By the end of Aug my son was recovering from top surgery. It was the single best decision we have made in his care so far. I am so disappointed in Kaiser right now, my son's boyfriend, 18, just found out he might not get his scheduled surgery next month.
Just another bunch of morons to bend the knee, but i will bet that this is also a way to save a dollar by not covering trans patients in an effort to improve the bottom line and the hell with their patients who need help
The abject Hatred that this Administration is inflicting upon us in the Transgender community is horrifying! But the amount of CRAVEN COWARDICE coming from the American Healthcare System is Astounding! This Administration is committed to the Transgender Community Genocide and our Totally Inadequate Health Care System is going down the same path that destroyed 10’s of millions of lives during the last World War! YOU ARE COMMITTING GENOCIDE AGAINST MY PEOPLE! WHY ARE YOU SO AFRAID OF ME!!!??? 👿👿👿👿
I agree the Trump! Admin is bullying these hospitals admins -- who can we best "bully" back?
Absolutely ridiculous this care is so endangered. Four hospital systems in Chicagoland are on this list! It’s so gross.
History will remember- and so will we.
Mild correction on an otherwise great article…the group is Rainbow Families Action, not Coalition.