Latest news with #ChildrensHospitalLA
CTV News
09-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
The biggest gender-affirming care center for trans kids in the US is closing, prompting protests
Protesters chant slogans while demonstrating against the closure of the trans youth clinic at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) LOS ANGELES — Growing up, Sage Sol Pitchenik wanted to hide. 'I hated my body,' the nonbinary 16-year-old said. 'I hated looking at it.' When therapy didn't help, Pitchenik, who uses the pronoun they, started going to the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the country's biggest public provider of gender-affirming care for children and teens. It changed their life. But in response to the Trump administration's threat to cut federal funds to places that offer gender-affirming care to minors, the center will be closing its doors July 22. Pitchenik has been among the scores of protesters who have demonstrated regularly outside the hospital to keep it open. 'Trans kids are done being quiet. Trans kids are done being polite, and trans kids are done begging for the bare minimum, begging for the chance to grow up, to have a future, to be loved by others when sometimes we can't even love ourselves,' Pitchenik said, prompting cheers from dozens of protesters during a recent demonstration. They went to the center for six years. 'There's a lot of bigotry and just hate all around, and having somebody who is trained specifically to speak with you, because there's not a lot of people that know what it's like, it meant the world,' they told The Associated Press. The center's legacy In operation for three decades, the facility is among the longest-running trans youth centers in the country and has served thousands of young people on public insurance. Patients who haven't gone through puberty yet receive counseling, which continues throughout the care process. For some patients, the next step is puberty blockers; for others, it's also hormone replacement therapy. Surgeries are rarely offered to minors. 'I'm one of the lucky ones,' said Pitchenik, who received hormone blockers after a lengthy process. 'I learned how to not only survive but how to thrive in my own body because of the lifesaving health care provided to me right here at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.' Many families are now scrambling to find care among a patchwork of private and public providers that are already stretched thin. It's not just patient care, but research development that's ending. 'It is a disappointment to see this abrupt closure disrupting the care that trans youth receive. But it's also a stain on their legacy,' said Maria Do, community mobilization manager at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. 'I think it showcases that they're quick to abandon our most vulnerable members.' The closure comes weeks after the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, amid other efforts by the federal government to regulate the lives of transgender people. The hospital initially backed off its plans to close after announcing them in February, spurring demonstrations, but later doubled back. The center said in a statement that 'despite this deeply held commitment to supporting LA's gender-diverse community, the hospital has been left with no viable path forward' to stay open. 'Center team members were heartbroken to learn of the decision from hospital leaders, who emphasized that it was not made lightly, but followed a thorough legal and financial assessment of the increasingly severe impacts of recent administrative actions and proposed policies,' the statement said. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has warned that by closing the center, the hospital is violating state antidiscrimination laws, but his office hasn't taken any further action. Bonta and attorneys general from 22 other states sued President Donald Trump's administration over the executive order in February. 'The Trump administration's relentless assault on transgender adolescents is nothing short of an all-out war to strip away LGBTQ+ rights,' Bonta told the AP in an email. 'The Administration's harmful attacks are hurting California's transgender community by seeking to scare doctors and hospitals from providing nondiscriminatory healthcare. The bottom line is: This care remains legal in California.' LGBTQ+ protesters and health care workers offer visibility Still wearing scrubs, Jack Brenner joined protesters after a long shift as a nurse in the hospital's emergency room, addressing the crowd with a megaphone while choking back tears. 'Our visibility is so important for our youth,' Brenner said, looking out at a cluster of protesters raising signs and waving trans pride flags. 'To see that there is a future, and that there is a way to grow up and to be your authentic self.' Brenner, who uses the pronoun they, didn't see people who looked like them growing up or come to understand what being trans meant until their mid-20s. 'It's something I definitely didn't have a language for when I was a kid, and I didn't know what the source of my pain and suffering was, and now looking back, so many things are sliding into place,' Brenner said. 'I'm realizing how much gender dysphoria was a source of my pain.' Trans children and teens are at increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, according to a 2024 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Brenner described encountering young patients in the emergency room who are trans or otherwise on the gender-nonconforming spectrum and 'at the peak of a mental health crisis.' Brenner wears a lanyard teeming with colorful pins emblazoned with the words 'they/them' to signal their gender identity. 'I see the change in kids' eyes, little glints of recognition, that I am a trans adult and that there is a future,' Brenner said. 'I've seen kids light up when they recognize something of themselves in me. And that is so meaningful that I can provide that.' Beth Hossfeld, a marriage and family therapist and a grandmother to an 11- and 13-year-old who received care at the center, called the closure 'patient abandonment.' 'It's a political decision, not a medical one, and that's disturbing to me,' she said. Anna Furman, The Associated Press
The Independent
09-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Anger at closure of largest gender-affirming care center for kids in the US
Growing up, Sage Sol Pitchenik wanted to hide. 'I hated my body," the nonbinary 16-year-old said. 'I hated looking at it.' When therapy didn't help, Pitchenik, who uses the pronoun they, started going to the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the country's biggest public provider of gender-affirming care for children and teens. It changed their life. But in response to the Trump administration's threat to cut federal funds to places that offer gender-affirming care to minors, the center will be closing its doors July 22. Pitchenik has been among the scores of protesters who have demonstrated regularly outside the hospital to keep it open. 'Trans kids are done being quiet. Trans kids are done being polite, and trans kids are done begging for the bare minimum, begging for the chance to grow up, to have a future, to be loved by others when sometimes we can't even love ourselves,' Pitchenik said, prompting cheers from dozens of protesters during a recent demonstration. They went to the center for six years. 'There's a lot of bigotry and just hate all around, and having somebody who is trained specifically to speak with you, because there's not a lot of people that know what it's like, it meant the world,' they told The Associated Press. In operation for three decades, the facility is among the longest-running trans youth centers in the country and has served thousands of young people on public insurance. Patients who haven't gone through puberty yet receive counseling, which continues throughout the care process. For some patients, the next step is puberty blockers; for others, it's also hormone replacement therapy. Surgeries are rarely offered to minors. 'I'm one of the lucky ones,' said Pitchenik, who received hormone blockers after a lengthy process. 'I learned how to not only survive but how to thrive in my own body because of the lifesaving health care provided to me right here at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.' Many families are now scrambling to find care among a patchwork of private and public providers that are already stretched thin. It's not just patient care, but research development that's ending. 'It is a disappointment to see this abrupt closure disrupting the care that trans youth receive. But it's also a stain on their legacy,' said Maria Do, community mobilization manager at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. 'I think it showcases that they're quick to abandon our most vulnerable members.' The closure comes weeks after the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee 's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, amid other efforts by the federal government to regulate the lives of transgender people. The hospital initially backed off its plans to close after it announced them in February, spurring demonstrations, but later doubled back. The center said in a statement that 'despite this deeply held commitment to supporting LA's gender-diverse community, the hospital has been left with no viable path forward' to stay open. 'Center team members were heartbroken to learn of the decision from hospital leaders, who emphasized that it was not made lightly, but followed a thorough legal and financial assessment of the increasingly severe impacts of recent administrative actions and proposed policies,' the statement said. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has warned that by closing the center, the hospital is violating state antidiscrimination laws, but his office hasn't taken any further actions. Bonta and attorney generals from 22 other states sued the Trump administration over the executive order in February. 'The Trump administration's relentless assault on transgender adolescents is nothing short of an all-out war to strip away LGBTQ+ rights.' Bonta told the AP in an email. 'The Administration's harmful attacks are hurting California's transgender community by seeking to scare doctors and hospitals from providing nondiscriminatory healthcare. The bottom line is: This care remains legal in California.' Still wearing scrubs, Jack Brenner, joined protesters after a long shift as a nurse in the hospital's emergency room, addressing the crowd with a megaphone while choking back tears. 'Our visibility is so important for our youth,' Brenner said, looking out at a cluster of protesters raising signs and waving trans pride flags. 'To see that there is a future, and that there is a way to grow up and to be your authentic self.' Brenner, who uses the pronoun they, didn't see people who looked like them growing up or understand what being trans meant until their mid-20s. 'It's something I definitely didn't have a language for when I was a kid, and I didn't know what the source of my pain and suffering was, and now looking back, so many things are sliding into place," Brenner said. 'I'm realizing how much gender dysphoria was a source of my pain.' Trans children and teens are at increased risk of death by suicide, according to a 2024 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Brenner described encountering young patients in the emergency room who are trans or otherwise on the gender-nonconforming spectrum and 'at the peak of a mental health crisis.' Brenner wears a lanyard teeming with colorful pins emblazoned with the words 'they/them' to signal their gender identity. 'I see the change in kids' eyes, little glints of recognition, that I am a trans adult and that there is a future,' Brenner said. 'I've seen kids light up when they recognize something of themselves in me. And that is so meaningful that I can provide that.' Beth Hossfeld, a marriage and family therapist, and a grandmother to an 11- and 13-year-old who received care at the center, called the closure 'patient abandonment.' 'It's a political decision, not a medical one, and that's disturbing to me,' she said.
The Independent
09-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Protesters rally against closure of largest gender-affirming care center for kids in the US
Growing up, Sage Sol Pitchenik wanted to hide. 'I hated my body," the nonbinary 16-year-old said. 'I hated looking at it.' When therapy didn't help, Pitchenik, who uses the pronoun they, started going to the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the country's biggest public provider of gender-affirming care for children and teens. It changed their life. But in response to the Trump administration's threat to cut federal funds to places that offer gender-affirming care to minors, the center will be closing its doors July 22. Pitchenik has been among the scores of protesters who have demonstrated regularly outside the hospital to keep it open. 'Trans kids are done being quiet. Trans kids are done being polite, and trans kids are done begging for the bare minimum, begging for the chance to grow up, to have a future, to be loved by others when sometimes we can't even love ourselves,' Pitchenik said, prompting cheers from dozens of protesters during a recent demonstration. They went to the center for six years. 'There's a lot of bigotry and just hate all around, and having somebody who is trained specifically to speak with you, because there's not a lot of people that know what it's like, it meant the world,' they told The Associated Press. The center's legacy In operation for three decades, the facility is among the longest-running trans youth centers in the country and has served thousands of young people on public insurance. Patients who haven't gone through puberty yet receive counseling, which continues throughout the care process. For some patients, the next step is puberty blockers; for others, it's also hormone replacement therapy. Surgeries are rarely offered to minors. 'I'm one of the lucky ones,' said Pitchenik, who received hormone blockers after a lengthy process. 'I learned how to not only survive but how to thrive in my own body because of the lifesaving health care provided to me right here at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.' Many families are now scrambling to find care among a patchwork of private and public providers that are already stretched thin. It's not just patient care, but research development that's ending. 'It is a disappointment to see this abrupt closure disrupting the care that trans youth receive. But it's also a stain on their legacy,' said Maria Do, community mobilization manager at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. 'I think it showcases that they're quick to abandon our most vulnerable members.' The closure comes weeks after the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, amid other efforts by the federal government to regulate the lives of transgender people. The hospital initially backed off its plans to close after it announced them in February, spurring demonstrations, but later doubled back. The center said in a statement that 'despite this deeply held commitment to supporting LA's gender-diverse community, the hospital has been left with no viable path forward' to stay open. 'Center team members were heartbroken to learn of the decision from hospital leaders, who emphasized that it was not made lightly, but followed a thorough legal and financial assessment of the increasingly severe impacts of recent administrative actions and proposed policies,' the statement said. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has warned that by closing the center, the hospital is violating state antidiscrimination laws, but his office hasn't taken any further actions. Bonta and attorney generals from 22 other states sued the Trump administration over the executive order in February. 'The Trump administration's relentless assault on transgender adolescents is nothing short of an all-out war to strip away LGBTQ+ rights.' Bonta told the AP in an email. 'The Administration's harmful attacks are hurting California's transgender community by seeking to scare doctors and hospitals from providing nondiscriminatory healthcare. The bottom line is: This care remains legal in California.' LGBTQ+ protesters and health care workers offer visibility Still wearing scrubs, Jack Brenner, joined protesters after a long shift as a nurse in the hospital's emergency room, addressing the crowd with a megaphone while choking back tears. 'Our visibility is so important for our youth,' Brenner said, looking out at a cluster of protesters raising signs and waving trans pride flags. 'To see that there is a future, and that there is a way to grow up and to be your authentic self.' Brenner, who uses the pronoun they, didn't see people who looked like them growing up or understand what being trans meant until their mid-20s. 'It's something I definitely didn't have a language for when I was a kid, and I didn't know what the source of my pain and suffering was, and now looking back, so many things are sliding into place," Brenner said. 'I'm realizing how much gender dysphoria was a source of my pain.' Trans children and teens are at increased risk of death by suicide, according to a 2024 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Brenner described encountering young patients in the emergency room who are trans or otherwise on the gender-nonconforming spectrum and 'at the peak of a mental health crisis.' Brenner wears a lanyard teeming with colorful pins emblazoned with the words 'they/them' to signal their gender identity. 'I see the change in kids' eyes, little glints of recognition, that I am a trans adult and that there is a future,' Brenner said. 'I've seen kids light up when they recognize something of themselves in me. And that is so meaningful that I can provide that.' Beth Hossfeld, a marriage and family therapist, and a grandmother to an 11- and 13-year-old who received care at the center, called the closure 'patient abandonment.' 'It's a political decision, not a medical one, and that's disturbing to me,' she said.
Associated Press
09-07-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Protesters rally against closure of largest gender-affirming care center for kids in the US
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Growing up, Sage Sol Pitchenik wanted to hide. 'I hated my body,' the nonbinary 16-year-old said. 'I hated looking at it.' When therapy didn't help, Pitchenik, who uses the pronoun they, started going to the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the country's biggest public provider of gender-affirming care for children and teens. It changed their life. But in response to the Trump administration's threat to cut federal funds to places that offer gender-affirming care to minors, the center will be closing its doors July 22. Pitchenik has been among the scores of protesters who have demonstrated regularly outside the hospital to keep it open. 'Trans kids are done being quiet. Trans kids are done being polite, and trans kids are done begging for the bare minimum, begging for the chance to grow up, to have a future, to be loved by others when sometimes we can't even love ourselves,' Pitchenik said, prompting cheers from dozens of protesters during a recent demonstration. They went to the center for six years. 'There's a lot of bigotry and just hate all around, and having somebody who is trained specifically to speak with you, because there's not a lot of people that know what it's like, it meant the world,' they told The Associated Press. The center's legacy In operation for three decades, the facility is among the longest-running trans youth centers in the country and has served thousands of young people on public insurance. Patients who haven't gone through puberty yet receive counseling, which continues throughout the care process. For some patients, the next step is puberty blockers; for others, it's also hormone replacement therapy. Surgeries are rarely offered to minors. 'I'm one of the lucky ones,' said Pitchenik, who received hormone blockers after a lengthy process. 'I learned how to not only survive but how to thrive in my own body because of the lifesaving health care provided to me right here at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.' Many families are now scrambling to find care among a patchwork of private and public providers that are already stretched thin. It's not just patient care, but research development that's ending. 'It is a disappointment to see this abrupt closure disrupting the care that trans youth receive. But it's also a stain on their legacy,' said Maria Do, community mobilization manager at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. 'I think it showcases that they're quick to abandon our most vulnerable members.' The closure comes weeks after the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, amid other efforts by the federal government to regulate the lives of transgender people. The hospital initially backed off its plans to close after it announced them in February, spurring demonstrations, but later doubled back. The center said in a statement that 'despite this deeply held commitment to supporting LA's gender-diverse community, the hospital has been left with no viable path forward' to stay open. 'Center team members were heartbroken to learn of the decision from hospital leaders, who emphasized that it was not made lightly, but followed a thorough legal and financial assessment of the increasingly severe impacts of recent administrative actions and proposed policies,' the statement said. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has warned that by closing the center, the hospital is violating state antidiscrimination laws, but his office hasn't taken any further actions. Bonta and attorney generals from 22 other states sued the Trump administration over the executive order in February. 'The Trump administration's relentless assault on transgender adolescents is nothing short of an all-out war to strip away LGBTQ+ rights.' Bonta told the AP in an email. 'The Administration's harmful attacks are hurting California's transgender community by seeking to scare doctors and hospitals from providing nondiscriminatory healthcare. The bottom line is: This care remains legal in California.' LGBTQ+ protesters and health care workers offer visibility Still wearing scrubs, Jack Brenner, joined protesters after a long shift as a nurse in the hospital's emergency room, addressing the crowd with a megaphone while choking back tears. 'Our visibility is so important for our youth,' Brenner said, looking out at a cluster of protesters raising signs and waving trans pride flags. 'To see that there is a future, and that there is a way to grow up and to be your authentic self.' Brenner, who uses the pronoun they, didn't see people who looked like them growing up or understand what being trans meant until their mid-20s. 'It's something I definitely didn't have a language for when I was a kid, and I didn't know what the source of my pain and suffering was, and now looking back, so many things are sliding into place,' Brenner said. 'I'm realizing how much gender dysphoria was a source of my pain.' Trans children and teens are at increased risk of death by suicide, according to a 2024 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Brenner described encountering young patients in the emergency room who are trans or otherwise on the gender-nonconforming spectrum and 'at the peak of a mental health crisis.' Brenner wears a lanyard teeming with colorful pins emblazoned with the words 'they/them' to signal their gender identity. 'I see the change in kids' eyes, little glints of recognition, that I am a trans adult and that there is a future,' Brenner said. 'I've seen kids light up when they recognize something of themselves in me. And that is so meaningful that I can provide that.' Beth Hossfeld, a marriage and family therapist, and a grandmother to an 11- and 13-year-old who received care at the center, called the closure 'patient abandonment.' 'It's a political decision, not a medical one, and that's disturbing to me,' she said.
The Independent
04-06-2025
- General
- The Independent
Reprieve for critically ill Mexican girl, 4, who could have died within days if deported under Trump order
The family of a four-year-old girl from California who is suffering from a rare disease will be spared deportation so that she can continue to receive life-saving medical treatment in the U.S. The family was granted temporary humanitarian permission to enter the U.S. from her home country of Mexico in 2023 after the little girl, Sofia, urgently needed treatment for short bowel syndrome, a rare condition that stops her from absorbing nutrients in food. The treatment she required was not available in Mexico and she condition was worsening, according to the family's lawyers. The family was targeted for deportation by the Trump administration, according to their lawyers. However, following media reports highlighting her case, lawmakers organized to demand she be given the chance to stay for humanitarian reasons. In April, the girl's mother, Deysi Vargas, learned that her humanitarian protections and her own permission to legally work in the U.S. was being revoked by the Trump administration, and a letter informing of her of that change advised her to voluntarily leave or else "the federal government will find you." Sofia's condition requires her to receive regular medical treatments that force her to be hooked up to an intravenous feeding system for 14 hours at night. Only a specialist team from Children's Hospital Los Angeles can oversee her medical needs. Her doctors at the hospital told the Los Angeles Times that she could die within days of stopping her treatments. 'By moving quickly, the agency has ensured that a four‑year‑old girl can continue receiving the specialized medical treatment that keeps her alive,' the family's attorney, Rebecca Brown of the nonprofit Public Counsel, told the LA Times. However, many families still face harm under the sweeping policy to do away with humanitarian parole. We ask the government to ensure that no one be put in harm's way.' A group of 38 congressional Democrats, including California Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, gathered to condemn her scheduled deportation and advocate on the family's behalf. The family learned on Monday via a letter from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service that they had been granted "Humanitarian Parole for a period of one year." The Trump administration previously denied that the girl was being deported after her story became national news. Last week, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Independent via email that the family's application for humanitarian parole was "still being considered." 'Any reporting that Vargas and her family are actively being deported are FALSE,' the official said. 'This family applied with USCIS for humanitarian parole on May 14, 2025, and the application is still being considered.'
