The Trump administration is targeting trans youth and the hospitals that care for them announcing plans to cut Medicare and Medicaid funding to institutions that provide procedures to youth under the age of 18.
This includes access to puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and operations, according to a declaration signed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is also issuing warning letters to 12 manufacturers and retailers for marketing breast binders to children for the purposes of treating gender dysphoria.
The American Civil Liberties Union said it will challenge the Trump administration in court on the latest proposals.
“These gratuitous proposals are cruel and unconstitutional attacks on the rights of transgender youth and their families,” said Chase Strangio, co-director of the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “By attempting to strip away essential healthcare, the administration is not ‘protecting’ anyone; it is weaponizing the federal government to target a vulnerable population for political gain. Healthcare decisions belong to families and their doctors, not politicians.”
ICYMI
- Augusta County teen on gender identity: ‘I’m not ashamed of being trans’
- VCU Health joins UVA Health in ending gender-affirming care for trans teens
“The latest proposals from the administration would force doctors to choose between their ethical obligations to their patients and the threat of losing federal funding. It would uproot families who have already fled state-level bans, leaving them with nowhere to turn for the care they need to survive and thrive.
“Let us be clear: If this administration moves forward with this attempt to enact a national ban on our medical care through coercion, the ACLU will see them in court. We will not rest until the rights of transgender youth to live authentically and access the care they need are fully protected.”
To trans Virginians: ‘You belong here’
Nearly 50 Virginia organizations released a statement calling on Virginia leaders to defend evidence-based health care, protect trans young people and reject political interference in medical decisions.
“As Virginians, we stand unequivocally for the right of transgender people and their families to access medically appropriate, evidence-based health care—free from fear, stigma, or political intrusion. Decisions about health care belong where they always have: between patients, families, and qualified medical professionals, guided by compassion, expertise, and respect—not ideology.
“Gender-affirming care is health care. It is supported by decades of medical research and endorsed by leading medical and professional organizations. It is lifesaving.
“Efforts to restrict this care—through intimidation, defunding, or government mandates—put politics ahead of people and inflict real harm on families striving to support their loved ones”
“We reject attempts to single out transgender people, especially transgender youth, by inserting government control into deeply personal family decisions. These attacks undermine privacy, erode trust in medical providers, and replace care with fear. No family should be forced to justify their child’s medical needs to politicians who neither know them nor understand their lives.
“Virginians believe in personal freedom, privacy, and the right to make decisions for ourselves and our families. We trust parents to act in the best interests of their children. We trust doctors to provide ethical, appropriate care. And we believe government’s role is to safeguard these freedoms—not take them away.
“What we are witnessing is part of a broader, coordinated effort nationwide to roll back protections for transgender people and impose rigid, one-size-fits-all policies that ignore medical science and lived experience. These attacks come at a time when families are already navigating rising health care costs and uncertainty—yet some political leaders choose to target a vulnerable community instead of addressing real challenges.
“To families of transgender youth in Virginia: you are not alone. You deserve respect, privacy, and the freedom to make informed health care decisions with providers you trust. Our Commonwealth stands with you.
“To transgender Virginians of all ages: you belong here. You deserve safety, dignity, and access to the care you need to live full, healthy lives.
“Together, we are committed to protecting and expanding access to gender-affirming care and ensuring Virginia remains a place where freedom is meaningful, privacy is respected, and every person is treated with dignity.
“We will not be silenced. We will not retreat. We will move forward—together.”
The letter is signed by:
- Equality Virginia
- Alexandrians Committed to Equality
- Arlington Gender Identity Alliance
- American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia
- Charley Speaks
- Defenders of Public Education PWC
- Diversity Richmond
- Dulles Triangles
- Equality Arlington
- Equality Loudoun
- FCPS Pride
- GLSEN RVA
- Health Brigade
- He She Ze and We
- Indivisible NOVA West
- LGBT Life Center
- Loudoun4All
- Loudoun Pride Foundation
- Metropolitan Community Church of Northern Virginia
- Metropolitan Community Church of Richmond
- Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America
- Metro DC PFLAG
- NoVA Prism Center
- NoVA’s Childless Cat Ladies
- PFLAG Ashburn/Loudoun County
- Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia
- Pride In The ‘Peake
- Reston Pride
- Richmond LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce
- Richmond Triangle Players
- Side By Side Virginia, Inc.
- Shawn Rubin, PsyD, Clinical Psychologist
- Shenandoah LGBTQ Center
- SMYAL
- Stonewall Sports RVA
- SURJ NoVA
- Thriving Transmen of Color
- Transforming Futures
- Transgender Assistance Program of Virginia
- Transgender Education Association
- Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington
- Us Giving Richmond Connections
- Virginia Anti-Violence Project
- Voices for Virginia’s Children
- Virginia Council on LGBTQ+
- Virginia LGBTQ+ Bar Association
- Virginia Pride
- Virginia Rural Health Association
- Virginia Queer Coalition
Related stories
- Shenandoah LGBTQ Center: ‘We know that many are scared and uncertain’
- DCCU yanks gender identity, sexual orientation language from EEO statement
- 988 Lifeline: Trump administration axes lifesaving services for LGBTQ+ youth
- ACLU sues Liberty University after woman fired: ‘You can be transgender and Christian’
- Alabama mayor’s social media accounts as a transgender woman revealed before death by suicide
Support AFP
Share
Crystal Graham
