Children’s Hospital Staff Member Calls Trans Youth Demonic, Ruined
Far-right activist Chris Rufo interviewed an anti-trans staff member from Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston who believes that trans youth represent a demonic presence at the workplace.
by Evan Urquhart
A staff member at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston who leaked private medical records to far-right activist Chris Rufo shared their thoughts yesterday in an interview with Rufo on the faux-news site of the conservative Manhattan Institute. Billed as revelatory by Rufo, this person doesn’t seem entirely ready for prime time. Granted anonymity, the staffer described children who receive gender-affirming as very happy, and said their parents showed no outward signs of discomfort or resistance in the course of seeking out the care their children needed.
The staff person also shared a belief that trans youth represent a “demonic presence.”
screenshot from City Journal
Contrary to the staff member’s beliefs, gender-affirming care is not a particularly lucrative field of medicine. It costs relatively little compared to other treatments and is particularly cost effective when compared to treating the host of psychiatric issues known to result when trans people lack access to it.
In addition to sharing opinions on the demonic connections of transgender youth, the whistleblower seemed to have a very limited understanding of the effects of gender-affirming treatments, claiming that, for transgender boys receiving testosterone, in addition to deeper voices and facial hair; “They don’t sweat as much. They don’t have much acne.” This stands in complete contrast to some of the most well known side effects of testosterone, which notoriously causes increased acne and increased sweating.
When asked about the patients’ reactions to the treatment, the staffer responded that they were happy with the changes to their bodies, drawing a distinction between the external" happiness that could be easily observed by anyone and the staff member’s own certainty that they weren’t happy “internally.”
screenshot from City Journal
The staffer’s apparent belief in their own ability to read minds extended to the parents of these patients also. These parents were described as showing support for their children (externally). However, in the mind of the staffer, the parents were actually confused and frightened of being accused of child abuse (internally). The interview ended with reference to the staffer’s religious beliefs, and their conviction that trans youth were being “ruined” and would one day regret their decision to transition.
The regret rates for transition-related treatment have been observed in multiple studies to be far lower than the rate of regret for other interventions.
As laughable as all this is, this religiously motivated staff member was responsible for a leak of private medical records Rufo published last Tuesday. The records, which seem to show a small number of patients received some sort of consultation, refill of medication, referral, or continuation of a pre-existing puberty blocking implant, were represented as evidence that gender-affirming care was continuing at Texas Children’s after the hospital announced it would be ending such treatment last year under intense political pressure. Despite the continued legality of the treatments under Texas law, this evidence of continuing care for a few patients spurred attorney general Ken Paxton to open an investigation into gender-affirming care at Texas Children’s and request a large number of patient records from the hospital. At this point it is unclear whether Texas Children’s will comply with the request for patient records, or what if any protections exist for the patients and parents of patients whose private medical information risks exposure from some of the most committed anti-trans ideologues in the country.