Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas announced on Monday a new interpretation of state law that would extend the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors to mental health providers, declaring that any therapist who affirms a trans youth’s gender identity is “facilitating” illegal treatment and committing child abuse. Under his interpretation, therapists, counselors…
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When Becky Pepper-Jackson started middle school, she wanted to join her school’s track and field team. Like many girls her age, she was excited to make new friends and cultivate a passion for a sport. But unlike the other girls on her school’s track and field team, Pepper-Jackson is trans. And because she lives in West Virginia, a state which has banned transgender girls from participating in…
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Three children’s hospitals are under federal investigation for providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth, as the Trump administration continues to use all the levers it can to block such care. Health and Human Services (HHS) General Counsel Mike Stuart has referred three children’s hospitals to the agency’s inspector general’s office: Seattle Children’s Hospital…
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On January 3, 2026, the far-right political group Let’s Go Washington announced that it had collected more than 400,000 signatures — enough to place a transgender sports ban for high school students on the ballot with genital inspections as a primary verification method. The group, bankrolled by conservative megadonor Brian Heywood, previously played a central role in pushing a forced outing…
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Over the last several years, many red states have banned gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Since Trump returned to power, that campaign has shifted to blue states, with the administration threatening hospitals and healthcare systems with the loss of federal funding unless they stopped providing care. This week, those threats escalated sharply: a new federal rule, now in its public…
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A newly published study reveals that a certain kind of gender-affirming care for transgender kids and young adults likely lowers rates of suicidality among those populations. The study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, examined 432 patients between the ages of 12 and 20 years old who received treatment at an unnamed Midwestern academic medical center. Patients who were set to receive…
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