Hundreds of protesters gathered in the rain outside a Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles on Thursday night, asking the hospital to roll back recent restrictions on gender-affirming care for young people.
Denying such care “contradicts all ethical standards we are taught in medicine and nursing. Jordan Davis, a family nurse practitioner, has reported that decades of research, all of the things we have learned. I ignore the guidance of major healthcare providers, the living experiences of trans people,” he told the crowd crammed into the sidewalks of Sunset Boulevard.
“We’re here because we refuse to direct health care to fear and politics.”
Protesters support the care of transgender youth outside of Los Angeles Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, California, in response to a hospital’s decision to suspend the initiation of hormone therapy for transgender patients under the age of 19. They gather together.
(Jil Connery / for the Los Angeles Times)
In the aftermath of President Trump’s executive order, LA Hospital said it has suspended the initiation of hormone therapy for “gender-pro-care patients” under the age of 19.
“We continue to carefully evaluate the executive order to fully understand what it means,” the hospital said in a statement. “The physical and mental health, safety and well-being of all our patients remain our number one priority.”
The decision has issued an executive order aimed at halting the use of adolescent blockers, hormones and other gender-affirming care, and has told federal officials that “suppress the use of chemical and surgical amputations of children.” It was done a few days after instructed to take all the appropriate action to finish it. Families of transgender youth have sought to stop the executive order, claiming that they will illegally steal medical care based on transgender identity.
Among the groups that organized the Thursday night protest were a committee of democratic socialists, interns and residents in Los Angeles, USA. Some of its members have been rotating at the Children’s Hospital
“One of the nation’s largest and most famous children’s hospitals will send a false message to suspend care,” said Dr. Mahima Ayengar, National Secretary General of CIR-SEIU. “We’re sending a message that medical decisions are not being made by doctors now. They’re being made by politicians instead.”
During the protest, Iyengar read testimonies from parents of trans children who do not want to be publicly identified to protect their children, explaining how such care helped them. Protesters lifted signs saying, “Gender-affirming care saves lives” and “I will shame you.” He then recited, “Please protect the trans kids!”
Protesters support the care of transgender youth outside of Los Angeles Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, California, in response to a hospital’s decision to suspend the initiation of hormone therapy for transgender patients under the age of 19. They gather together.
(Jil Connery / for the Los Angeles Times)
“My child feels threatened, his life is not important, he feels like he can compromise his life, and his parents Juan Carlos Perez is infuriating to the crowd. He spoke.
Among those present at Thursday’s protest were Los Angeles City Councillors Isabel Jurado and Hugo Soto Martinez. Soto Martinez, a district that includes the Children’s Hospital, urged the facilities to “oppose these hateful and illegal policies.”
The CHLA decision was praised by a group that includes the California Family Council. This argues that health care involved in gender transition is dangerous and harmful to young people. “This is a long-deferred victory for the truth, for vulnerable children who deserve real help, rather than an experimental treatment that brings about lifelong outcomes.” Vice President Greg Burt said in a statement.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that transgender youths are “access to comprehensive, gender-affirming, developmentally appropriate health care.”
Dr. Mahima Ienger shares stories from the parents of trans children and crowds outside a Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles on February 6, 2025.
(Emily Alpert Reyes/Los Angeles Times)
In its policy statement, the academy describes adolescent blockers as reversible, and that hormones are being used to suppress adolescents if children receive it at an unusually early age. We are paying attention to. Other physical changes due to testosterone or estrogen administration are not reversible, the policy statement said.
Iyengar said, “Like the medication you prescribe as a doctor, you talk about risks, you talk about benefits, you make individual decisions based on your previous patient. And finally, it’s one day. At the end of that patient’s decision. …This is a healthcare decision.”
According to a study of insured patients published in the medical journal Jama Network Open, surgical procedures in transgender youth are “rare and almost completely chest-related procedures.” The majority of minor breast reductions were for cisgender boys who were far more than those aimed at transgender youth.
Among the biggest threats to hospitals outlined in Trump’s order of gender-maintaining care is the possibility of changes to regulations for the Medicare and Medicaid programs, the primary source of healthcare funding.
Protesters support the care of transgender youth outside of Los Angeles Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, California, in response to a hospital’s decision to suspend the initiation of hormone therapy for transgender patients under the age of 19. They gather together.
(Jil Connery / for the Los Angeles Times)
However, LGBTQ+ advocates emphasize that such radical changes rely on federal rules that have not yet been implemented. Atty, California. General Rob Bonta said the executive order did not give federal agencies a basis to cite federal funds from healthcare providers.
In this week’s letter to CHLA, his office said to the hospital that if services are being provided to other non-trans people, they would withhold them from trans people based on their gender identity. warned that it was a prohibited form of discrimination.
The hospital told The Times for children who have not stopped hormone therapy for non-transgender children and adolescent blockers, and who may be prescribed for other medical purposes. As of Wednesday, CHLA said it was reviewing letters from Bonta’s office.
Joe Hollendner, CEO of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, told a crowd of protesters on Thursday night that Children’s Hospital cannot “hide” Trump’s executive order.
“Just because that orange threat signed something on his desk doesn’t mean it’s the law of the land!” Hollendoner declared cheers and applause.
Parents of transgender children told the Times this week that the news reached their families in a confused and uneasy way. Some patients who were already undergoing hormone therapy said they had planned to be cancelled suddenly by CHLA, and have since returned.
Linda is a parent who asked to be identified only in her name to protect the privacy of her child, and although her 13-year-old receives regular shots to prevent the onset of adolescents, she has implants He said he was interested in switching to. It’s effective for several years.
Protesters will gather along Sunset Boulevard ahead of the rally to demand that the decision to suspend to affirm the gender of transgender patients under the age of 19 be reversed.
(Emily Alpert Reyes/Los Angeles Times)
The mother called this week, hospital staff members asked if they wanted to order implants.
CHLA officials said Tuesday that existing patients who are already receiving hormone therapy can continue their care, but they didn’t immediately clarify what treatments would continue.
(l to r) Aldo Anderson, Keith Anderson, Michael Chuwe support the care of transgender youth outside the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, California on February 6, 2025. Supports the hospital’s decision to suspend the start of the hospital. Hormonal therapy for transgender patients under the age of 19.
(Jil Connery / for the Los Angeles Times)
In a statement, the hospital said, “We will continue to support patients and their families to access robust mental health and social support services, ensuring patients have access to high quality care and the best possible health outcomes. “We’ll do that.”
American Psychological Association. Opposing the prohibition of gender-maintaining care “in contrast to evidence-based health care principles” and obstructing access to gender-maintaining care “increases the risk of negative mental health outcomes.” I mentioned it.
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