Conservative conspiracy theorists target children's hospital in effort to fuel anti-trans hysteria

Marissa Higgins

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday August 17, 2022 · 11:05 AM PDT

2022/08/17 · 11:05

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 24: A person wears a "Protect Trans Kids' t-shirt as they join people protesting the Supreme Courts 6-3 decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Womenâ€™s Health Organization at Washington Square Park on June 24, 2022 in New York City. The decision by the majority of the Supreme Court upholds a Mississippi law that bans all abortions over 15 weeks gestational age except in medical emergencies and cases of severe fetal abnormality. The decision also overturns Roe v. Wade thus eliminating the constitutional right to abortion, after almost 50 years of it being settled law in the country, transforming womenâ€™s reproductive health. In a concurring opinion on the case, Justice Clarence Thomasâ€¯â€¯stated that the Supreme Court â€œshould reconsiderâ€ its cases on same-sex marriage, same-sex relationships and contraception access. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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Here at Daily Kos, we’ve continued to highlight the heinous onslaught of anti-trans violence against trans youth. As we’re nearing midterm elections, we’ve seen a serious uptick in Republicans pushing anti-trans bills—and some Republican governors signing those bills into law. Laws aiming to keep trans girls out of girls’ sports have popped up all over the country, as well as books trying to bar trans youth from accessing safe, age-appropriate, gender-affirming health care. Some of these anti-trans laws even extend to trans adults, as conservatives are working their hardest to separate an already vulnerable population from care that can be life-saving.

Trans folks and their families are, of course, suffering—we’ve covered reports of parents trying to relocate to other states in order to get young ones the care they need, for example. In addition to patients, health care providers have also come under serious fire thanks to general hysterical rhetoric and in the form of some legislative efforts. We’ve covered bills that threaten physicians who provide gender-affirming care with steep penalties, including losing their medical license, fines, and even felony jail time.

And now, thanks to far-right anti-trans extremists, staff at Boston Children's Hospital are reportedly dealing with threats of violence online, as covered by LGBTQ Nation. Why? Twitter conspiracy theorist “Libs of TikTok” stoked outrage by sharing videos suggesting two- and three-year-olds are receiving gender-affirming surgery at the hospital. Is this happening? No. Do conservatives care about reality? Also no.

According to NBC News, who confirmed receipt of an email from the public relations office at the hospital to employees, workers were given guidance on how to handle threats and harassment, mentioning an “increase of threatening and aggressive” phone calls and emails. Those messages, unsurprisingly, revolve around how hospitals treat trans patients.

In a statement emailed to the outlet, the hospital said they’re “deeply concerned” by the attacks against their staff and believe they’re fueled by “misinformation” and a “lack of understanding and respect” for the trans community. The statement added that they’re “proud” to be home to the first pediatric and adolescent trans health program in the country.

So, where did all of the outrage come from? This loops back to Libs of TikTok and conservative sites like the Post Millennial.

In the last 5 days, Libs of Tiktok has tweeted and retweeted 14 posts about Boston Children's Hospital. As a result, BCH providers are being inundated in death threats and harassing calls and emails. It's now affecting their services. This is stochastic terrorism, full stop. pic.twitter.com/CEMlRsX6S4
— Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) August 15, 2022

This misinformation includes, for example, implying that the hospital is offering surgeries like hysterectomies to young girls when in reality, the hospital doesn’t provide such a service as part of gender-affirming care to anyone under 18. The same goes for things like gender-affirming genital surgeries.

According to Vice, the outlet has found extremist threats against doctors online. The outlet says it found such threats on a pro-Trump forum called TheDonald, where posts included folks encouraging one another to call the hospital, write comments on the hospital’s YouTube videos, and, disturbingly, someone wrote it is “long past time to start executing these ‘doctors’.’

It’s clear the right wants to demonize trans folks and all of their allies, whether that happens by getting people falsely outraged over sports, health care, bathrooms, or books. And it’s clear we need to make sure we vote and keep these dangerous people—and ideas—out of office.

Sign and send the petition to congressional Democrats: Transgender children deserve all our love, support, and gender-affirming care

Conservative conspiracy theorists target children's hospital in effort to fuel anti-trans hysteria

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