They Want To Criminalize All Trans Youth Care

feature image photo by Anna Moneymaker / Staff via Getty Images

Some of the most devastating anti-trans actions from the Trump administration, their cronies, and the far-right-at-large were put into action this week, and they’re all aimed directly at trans youth.

In what is probably the most infuriating collaboration between the far-right’s ongoing attacks on trans people and their obsession with “law and order,” Marjorie Taylor Greene’s House bill HR 3492, the so-called “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” passed through the House in 216–211 vote on Wednesday. The bill threatens to criminalize providing transgender-related healthcare — such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and gender-affirming surgeries — to trans people under 18. The bill stipulates that any healthcare professionals or organizations who engage in providing these treatments would be subject to fines, imprisonment, or both.

According to reports, “Greene had secured a deal with leadership to bring her bill to the floor in exchange for her support of a rule advancing the National Defense Authorization Act last week,” which proves once again that these people have no real values to speak of and just want to continue making other people’s lives a living hell.

Considering Republicans would need significant Democratic support in order for this to pass in the Senate, it likely will not make it beyond the Senate floor.

I don’t even feel it’s important to discuss how some House members crossed party lines to vote for and against this bill — everyone in the government should be condemned for their ongoing consideration and entertainment of bills like these. Even when they don’t pass, they add fuel to the already sprawling fire that is the attack on trans lives in this country, and they often lead to further actions that threaten how we live.

Following the House’s vote last week, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and his Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Dr. Mehmet Oz, announced they are proposing two new rules for Medicare and Medicaid funding. The first rule “prohibits doctors and hospitals from receiving federal Medicaid reimbursement for gender-affirming care provided to transgender patients younger than age 18,” while the second rule “blocks all Medicaid and Medicare funding for any services at hospitals that provide pediatric gender-affirming care.” Just from that description, it’s obvious these new rules could effectively prevent the providing of gender-affirming care for minors all over the country.

As Grace Panetta reports, “The proposed actions ‘would put Donald Trump and RFK Jr. in those doctor’s offices, ripping health care decisions from the hands of families and putting it in the grips of the anti-LGBTQ+ fringe,’ said Kelley Robinson, Human Rights Campaign’s president. ‘Make no mistake: these rules aim to completely cut off medically necessary care from children no matter where in this country they live,” she added. “It’s the Trump administration dictating who gets their prescription filled and who has their next appointment canceled altogether.’”

Obviously, this is not the kind of news I wanted to report during the holidays, but children’s lives are at stake here, even if these bills and rules do not become official. Trans people, especially trans youth, are under perpetual attack, and we need to be screaming from the rooftops that gender-affirming care is not only essential, it is our moral duty to continue providing it for those who want and need it.

Some Good Trans News For Once

New York AG vows to fight new Trump proposals to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth. In the wake of RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz’s announcement regarding Medicare and Medicaid funding for healthcare providers and hospitals, the New York Attorney General, Letitia James, recommitted herself to fighting against these attacks on trans youth. James released a statement shortly after the announcement saying, “This president would rather target young people than lower costs or expand access to health care. I will use every tool at my disposal to fight this proposal and protect transgender Americans and their families.”

California braces for showdown as Trump administration targets gender-affirming care. Similar to James’s reaction to RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz’s announcement, the University of California health system is bracing for impact and ready to fight back. In a statement, the University said, “The University is reviewing the proposed regulations and any additional available detail as we assess the potential impact on UC’s clinical services. We will continue to do all we can to support the interests of our clinicians, patients and families, and the dignity of all members of our community.”

Connecticut families file complaints against hospitals over ‘severe disruptions’ to trans care. We’ve reported on the many hospitals practicing early compliance to the Trump administration’s attack on trans youth healthcare, including Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and Yale New Haven Health. Well, in response to this early compliance, 10 families in Connecticut have filed complaints with Connecticut’s Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.

Ron DeSantis forced this city to remove Pride crosswalks. So it put up Pride bike racks instead. Not that I necessarily think Pride crosswalks or bike racks are going to save us or change the material conditions of our lives, but I do love to see people resisting in whatever ways they can, especially when it comes to my home state of Florida. And speaking of good news from St. Petersburg: Residents there recently voted in the first openly trans person to their city government.

California hospital will continue youth gender-affirming care after families protest. The largest hospital system in Northern California, Sutter Health, is officially reversing its decision to end providing gender-affirming care to trans youth thanks to the actions of Rainbow Families Action, a collective of families in the Bay Area who have trans children.

The kitchen helping trans New Yorkers celebrate the holidays. Long live Qween Jean’s Black Trans Liberation Kitchen!! This is both a beautiful profile of activists doing meaningful mutual aid work in their community and a celebration of the lives of trans people.

Protecting trans Texans, creating jobs, reducing homelessness. In response to the passing of Senate Bill 8, which requires trans Texans to use the bathrooms that “match” their gender assigned at birth in public buildings, the Austin City Council voted unanimously last week to “direct staff to craft a plan to renovate restrooms in city buildings to make them gender inclusive.”

Judge accuses transphobic lawyers of submitting legal briefs filled with AI errors. Not sure if this is good news exactly, but it was funny to me.

Trans news from across the pond:

Hundreds gather outside Girlguiding HQ to demand trans ban is reversed: ‘Adults debate, children bleed.’ In the last TNT, I included a story on how the UK’s Girlguiding organization — their equivalent to the Girl Scouts — banned the participation of trans people in their organization. Now, people are fighting back against the ban.

News I Wish I Didn’t Have to Report

New Florida bill would protect anti-trans discrimination in the workplace. Here we go with this shit, again. As Erin Reed reports here, House Bill 641, “would enact a sweeping set of new workplace protections for employees who oppose transgender people. It states that a state, county, or local employee ‘may not be required’ to refer to another person using that person’s preferred pronouns if those pronouns ‘do not correspond to that person’s sex.’ It would bar such employers from including any gender options other than ‘male’ or ‘female’ on job applications, and it would prohibit even private workplaces from workplace training related to gender identity or sexuality — effectively imposing a ‘Don’t Say Gay or Trans’ policy on workplaces. Most significantly, the bill would ban ‘adverse personnel action’ against employees who engage in openly transphobic conduct, shielding them under the banner of ‘deeply held religious, moral, conscience-based, or biology-based beliefs against gender ideology.’”

Texas introduces tip-off system to encourage reporting of trans people in bathrooms. In what is possibly the most pathetic attempt to ruin the lives of trans people and divide communities even further, the Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, launched a complaint form on the office’s official website where people can report suspected trans people of using the “incorrect” bathroom. This will inevitably lead to some terrifying results, and I hope allies in Texas (and beyond) are prepared to address this in the near future.

Trump administration urged to review Netflix’s LGBTQ+ kids content ahead of merger. Concerned Women for America (CWA) — an apparently real far-right group “dedicated to impacting the culture for Christ” — is trying to get the Trump administration to review and, eventually, prohibit LGBTQ+ content on Netflix. What a bunch of losers.

Pam Bondi wants FBI to place cash bounties on trans activists. I don’t have much to say about this except that Pam Bondi can go to hell. If anything even close to this happens and can legally be pursued by the Trump administration, we will need to get more collectively organized and ready to protect each other more than we’ve ever been.

An entire library board just disbanded over a single trans book. As the article reports, “The Randolph County Board of Commissioners dissolved its nine-member library board over a picture book about a trans boy, which initially caused backlash because it was located in the children’s section.” This is a frustrating situation and an unfortunate reminder about the lengths people will go to in our current moment to prevent young people from accessing stories they might identify with or learn from.

Republicans make deepfake AI video of Democrat giving a kid trans hormone therapy. From what I can see, the far-right is producing more AI slop content than anyone else. But this specific AI slop content is particularly unhinged.

Florida sues leading medical groups for supporting gender-affirming care. Unfortunately, this is more bad news from Florida. Invoking the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is suing the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the Endocrine Society, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, accusing the groups of promoting “discredited clinical guidelines as ‘evidence-based standards of care’ to sell memberships.” These people really just say and do any damn thing.

Texas city votes to overturn LGBTQ+ antidiscrimination protections. Arlington, Texas just became the first city in the country to reverse anti-discrimination statutes for LGBTQ+ people. I have some thoughts for many of the people in this city that I cannot share publicly.

The state is making a list of transgender Texans. It’s using driver’s licenses to help. Yet another punch in the chest from the state of Texas. This time, the state is using driver’s license applications and applications that requested a change of gender marker to make a database of trans people living in the state: “According to internal documents The Texas Newsroom obtained through records requests, the Texas Department of Public Safety has amassed a list of 110 people who tried to update their gender between August 2024 and August 2025.” This is among some of the most terrifying news for me to report in TNT, and everyone should be following this story closely.

New Hampshire Republicans want to keep trans people out of restrooms in private businesses. These losers keep trying to up the anti-trans ante in any way they can, and I truly hope business owners who care about their profit margins respond accordingly before they become targets of protests, boycotts, and other actions.

Last Bits of Trans News

A Short History of the ‘Nonbinary Barista.’ Just some essential historical content published here at Autostraddle this week!

YouTuber Ms Rachel says LGBTQ+ allyship is important as a Christian: ‘No one is to be excluded.’ Breaking news: Ms. Rachel continues to rock, and I absolutely love to see it.

Kim Petras claps back at Nicki Minaj over anti-trans comments. Certainly not going to change the world or anything, but a little celebrity-on-celebrity violence in the name of protecting trans people is always good to see.

Darts champ Noa-Lynn van Leuven opens up on “incredibly painful” weight of transphobia. This headline makes this profile seem more depressing than it actually is, so you should click through to read the entire thing. Instead of letting anti-trans backlash end her professional sports career, van Leuven took a step back to recalibrate and then came back onto the competitive darts scene with more force and fury than she previously had. Personally, I love a vengeful comeback.