Someone in trans health is going to die

Social media propagandists won’t rest until a doctor or other healthcare worker dies over trans health

Katelyn Burns
2 min readAug 31, 2022

Late last week, I wrote for MSNBC about how right wing media propagandists drove a social media hate mob at Boston Children’s Hospital over its youth transgender care program.

Last week, employees at the hospital were warned to take special care when entering and exiting the building, and hired extra security. This week the threats escalated. Yesterday the hospital and police told the media that a bomb threat was made against the facility, forcing an investigation.

It’s a well worn play book that the extreme right previously ran against abortion care. By ginning up political opposition, and matched with physical threats, hospitals that did perform abortions ended up leaving the care to shift to specialist clinics that became even easier to terrorize with protests and right wing violence.

They’re running the same playbook on trans care. If the public hate campaign lasts long enough, administrators at Boston Children’s may one day decide that the trans youth program is not worth the effort, expense, or liability, leaving the existing care to shift to a smaller, less protected and resourceful provider.

Other trans care providers in the US have been hit with similar public outrage campaigns, like the GENECIS program in Dallas, Texas, which first came to the public eye in the…

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Katelyn Burns
Katelyn Burns

Written by Katelyn Burns

Political journalist. The first openly trans Capitol Hill reporter in US history. Writing about more than just trans issues. Follow her on Twitter @transscribe