Hospitals Are Limiting Gender Treatment for Trans Minors, Even in Blue States
It made Jesse Thorn, the father of two transgender daughters, angry and sad. But he was never afraid. His family lives in California.
'For months and months and months,' Mr. Thorn said, 'when someone would say, 'I'm so sorry this is happening to you,' I would say, 'Thank you for loving my family, but it's not happening to me. My kids are fine. Let's see what we can do to take care of other kids.''
All of that has changed. The clinic where Mr. Thorn's family has received treatment for years is closing.
It is one of two prominent medical centers in California that are sharply cutting back gender-related treatments for transgender youths under pressure from the Trump administration. The moves have sent shock waves through L.G.B.T.Q. communities in a Democratic-controlled state long known for its trans-friendly politics and culture.
Children's Hospital Los Angeles on Tuesday shuttered its Center for Transyouth Health and Development, one of the nation's oldest and largest clinics for transgender and gender nonconforming young people and the clinic where Mr. Thorn's family had been patients. Stanford Medicine in the San Francisco Bay Area has paused surgical procedures, including new puberty blocker implants, for those under the age of 19. Together, the facilities served thousands of patients.
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