Gaylesta calls on gender-affirming care providers and patients to urge Attorney General Rob Bonta to use existing state protections to halt the ongoing rollbacks of gender-affirming care in CA!

Dear Attorney General Bonta:

The members of Gaylesta, an LGBTQIA+ organization comprising over 500 mental health providers in the Bay Area, express profound concern and disappointment over recent decisions by several California hospitals and gender clinics to discontinue certain gender-affirming medical interventions for patients under age 19. This premature compliance with federal attacks on gender-affirming care (GAC) adversely affects vulnerable youth and their families, contradicts existing state legal protections, and undermines California's leadership in providing access to this life-saving care. We urge the office of the Attorney General to take a public stand against this worrying trend through enforcing and expanding state protections, advocating for contingency funding for GAC in the face of federal pressure, and considering legal action to challenge the federal government’s unconstitutional overreach.

Transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) youth continue to experience heightened discrimination and legislative attacks nationwide, and the adverse outcomes from being denied gender-affirming care are well-documented. California has long served as a safe haven for TGD youth and their families. Clinic closures and reduction of services by institutions including Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Stanford Healthcare, Gender Confirmation Center, and Kaiser Permanente erodes the trust that the TGD community has placed in our state.

Gender-affirming care providers and healthcare institutions are also impacted. The Federal Trade Commission recently launched investigations into GAC, has issued subpoenas to clinics as a means to pressure them into compliance, and is even eliciting public comment to uncover supposed “false and unsupported claims” about GAC. Simultaneously, institutions are receiving federal threats to withdraw funding for providing this care. It is imperative that healthcare professionals feel secure and protected in continuing to provide this legal, empirically supported, life-saving care even amidst political pressure.

California state law unequivocally supports access to GAC. SB-923 ensures discrimination-free provision of care, AB-571 obliges state-regulated healthcare plans to cover medically necessary GAC, and SB-107 codifies youth access to GAC and protects providers from legal retaliation. We applaud the Attorney General’s strong statements defending access to care and reiterating CA law. At the same time, without consistent enforcement, these protections appear hollow. Despite support from state leadership, we continue to see clinics scaling back services and in some cases closing entirely. A clear public response while actively enforcing existing legal protections would provide much-needed reassurance both to patients receiving GAC, and their providers.

Healthcare providers and institutions bear a legal and ethical responsibility to provide evidence-based care grounded in facts, not fear. Preemptive compliance sends a distressing message to trans youth and their families that their healthcare is negotiable. We encourage Attorney General Bonta to reaffirm California’s commitment to TGD youth by using the authority your office holds to ensure their continued access to protected care.