New court filings obtained by Erin in the Morning reveal the harrowing lengths one trans teenager went to trying to keep his longstanding health care after his provider, Essentia Health in Minnesota, suddenly dropped trans youth patients like him.
Now, he’s suing the regional health care system that lawyers say capitulated to anti-trans threats from the Trump regime—a move that potentially violated state equal rights laws. The advocacy group Gender Justice partnered with Robins Kaplan LLP to file a lawsuit on his behalf. The complaint is attached in full at the bottom of this piece.
“State laws, like the Minnesota Human Rights Act, can and do continue to protect trans youth from discrimination, regardless of federal attacks on the trans community,” Greta Wiessner, senior staff attorney at Gender Justice, told Erin in the Morning via email. Gender Justice is the public interest firm representing the Doe family alongside Robins Kaplan LLP.
This puts the Doe family squarely at the center of a national battle over the rights and future of transgender youth. They are part of a small but notable cohort of families in similarly dire straits: families in so-called “safe” or “blue” states who still saw their child’s health care ripped away because health care institutions capitulated despite state laws that should, in theory, protect health care access for transgender and cisgender children equally.
Doe had been expressing his identity as early as preschool—that’s when he told his family he was a boy. He asked for a short haircut and began dressing in boys’ clothing. But the onset of puberty also brought heightened gender dysphoria. At age 10, he attempted suicide, court filings say, but the puberty blockers and subsequent hormone replacement therapy that he received at Essentia Health saved Doe’s life. He went from a shy, suicidal preteen into a flourishing student who loved to perform in theatre and choir.
But in early 2026, Essentia patients began to see the writing on the wall. Hospital administrators reportedly began telling providers, in secret, that they would be winding down gender-affirming care for trans youth.
Like many of the dozens upon dozens of hospitals and health care clinics across the country that sunset youth gender care in an attempt to stave off the Trump regime’s wrath, Essentia’s care rollback was reportedly clumsy, ill-communicated, and terror-inducing for families.
“Nobody should receive a major health care access update ‘through the grapevine,’” a statement from Gender Justice said. “Essentia’s failure to communicate with families wasn’t just cruel. It put patients at increased risk by creating confusion and giving families a limited timeline within which to find alternative providers.”
When Doe himself learned his care might be cut off, he was terrified. “Mom, I’ll die,” he reportedly said.
Put simply by Doe’s mother: “This has caused much suffering for our family.”
The Doe family’s lawsuit charges Essentia violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act based on gender identity and disability discrimination. They are seeking a permanent injunction on the care stoppage plus monetary damages.
Erin in the Morning reached out to Essentia Health for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
Since Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office, countless hospitals and gender-affirming care institutions have suddenly stopped providing such care—often with minimal notice, and in many instances, in states with strict anti-discrimination laws. In theory, these laws should prohibit hospitals from capitulating to Trumpian threats and ceasing care for trans youth.
In practice, many hospitals and clinics are doing just that with little to no repercussions. Parents and activist groups are calling on their respective AGs, including Attorney General Rob Bonta of California and Letitia James of New York, to enforce state laws. New York’s Letitia James ordered NYU Langone to resume care but hasn’t gone to court; only Bonta has sued. His office took on Rady Children’s for ending gender-affirming care in violation of the conditions attached to its merger with Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
Other creative legal maneuvers have been deployed, too. In California, activist lawyers were able to successfully stop the release of identifying patient records at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles by filing a lawsuit against the government on behalf of six affected families. Additionally, families sued Children’s Hospital Colorado and filed civil rights complaints against two Connecticut hospitals.
“Transgender youth deserve to live freely, safely and authentically, with access to the care that allows them to thrive,” said Megan Peterson, executive director at Gender Justice. “Across America, their rights are under attack, and too many institutions are choosing to abandon them rather than protect them. We will not.”
The full complaint can be read below.
“Transgender youth deserve to live freely, safely and authentically, with access to the care that allows them to thrive,” said Megan Peterson, executive director at Gender Justice. “Across America, their rights are under attack, and too many institutions are choosing to abandon them rather than protect them. We will not.”
This is such a powerful message ✊🏳️⚧️
Thank you for your reporting on this! I live in Minnesota, and I think for folks who aren't directly impacted there's a false sense of security and lack of awareness since we're in a blue state.