The evil has been defeated.
Well… sort of. Some of the evil has been defeated. For now.
In December of 2025, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., declared that an alarming number of American children were having their genders transed, and that prevailing diagnostic recommendations by groups like the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (“sex-rejecting procedures”) weren’t resulting in favorable outcomes for gender dysphoric youth. That was a lie, of course, predicated on the widely debunked review of gender-affirming care published by Health and Human Services last year.
Telling the truth wasn’t the point, though, and neither was protecting children. This was a calculated maneuver in a war between the federal government and trans Americans, and Kennedy made that clear by threatening to revoke federal funding from hospitals that adhered to widely accepted, safe clinical guidelines for treating gender dysphoric youth. A federal judge told him last month that he simply cannot do that, but the Justice Department is still trying to intimidate healthcare providers who support trans children and accept medical science.
In Colorado, home to many vibrant queer communities, Children’s Hospital Colorado was the largest in-state provider of necessary healthcare for trans youth… until Kennedy’s declaration of war. Children’s Colorado announced in January that they would no longer provide gender-affirming care to patients under 18. No more new scrips, no more renewals. In court, they argued that—due to Kennedy’s declaration—treating trans children might mean not being able to treat any children, as over half of the hospital’s patients rely on Medicaid and Medicare to pay their bills. Children’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. David Brumbaugh, made it clear that the hospital was not on Kennedy’s side.
“The intrusion on medical decision-making has been distressing for all of us,” Dr. Brumbaugh said. “We believe whole-heartedly that we have been practicing a national-leading standard of care … My hope is that at some point in the future, we will be able to resume a medical gender-affirming model of care.”
Thanks to four young trans patients at Children’s Colorado, represented by Denver civil rights attorney Paula Greisen, Dr. Brumbaugh’s hopes have come true: the hospital must resume its treatment for trans patients under 18. In a 5-2 decision, the Colorado Supreme Court has granted injunctive relief to patients at Children’s Colorado, arguing that the abolishment of gender-affirming care is plainly discriminatory, and that previous denial of relief by a lower court was a mistake.
“Because any potential harm to the public’s interest in access to healthcare is speculative, and because the General Assembly has stated that it is in the public’s interest to prohibit discrimination against individuals based on gender identity and to protect those individuals’ access to medical care, we conclude that the trial court erred by finding that petitioners failed to satisfy the public interest factor,” said Supreme Court Justice William Hood in a 30-page opinion.
Justice Hood made it clear that playing a numbers game when it comes to the question of who deserves treatment is incorrect: “Were it otherwise, minority groups would always lose.”
So, this is good news, right? Well, yes, definitely… but was Children’s Colorado wrong to fear that the federal government might react punitively, should some future courtroom decision legitimize Kennedy’s threats? The hospital is now compelled to violate federal guidelines and jeopardize funding in the future to satisfy the demands of Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws.
Doctors, who typically want the best for their patients, can resume treating trans kids who desperately need treatment. Families of trans kids can stop worrying for the health and safety of their kids, at least a little bit. This is huge, and it should be celebrated, but I can’t help but worry for the future of hospitals like Children’s when malicious actors in the federal government, like Robert Kennedy, so desperately want to destroy them for helping trans kids.
When it comes to hospitals treating trans youth, the news is mixed, of late. Kids in Colorado and Kansas are able to pursue the healthcare they need, while Children’s Texas is opening a detransition clinic… whatever that’s supposed to accomplish. We’re seeing victories, but we aren’t out of the woods yet.
Let’s hope that, someday soon, trans kids across the country (and the world, really) are able to transition, socially and medically, without some creepy old worm-brained freak trying to stand in their way.
Aly Gibbs (She/They) is a trans writer who reports on news important to the queer community.