Biggest Gender Transition Care Center for Trans Kids in US Is Closing

Growing up, Sage Sol Pitchenik wanted to hide.

“I hated my body,” the nonbinary 16-year-old said. “I hated looking at it.”

When therapy didn't help, Pitchenik, who uses the pronoun they, started going to the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the country’s biggest public provider of gender-related care for children and teens. It changed their life.

But in response to the Trump administration’s threat to cut federal funds to places that offer gender care to minors, the center will be closing its doors July 22. Pitchenik has been among the scores of protesters who have demonstrated regularly outside the hospital to keep it open.

“Trans kids are done being quiet. Trans kids are done being polite, and trans kids are done begging for the bare minimum, begging for the chance to grow up, to have a future, to be loved by others when sometimes we can’t even love ourselves,” Pitchenik said, prompting cheers from dozens of protesters during a recent demonstration.

They went to the center for six years.

“There’s a lot of bigotry and just hate all around, and having somebody who is trained specifically to speak with you, because there’s not a lot of people that know what it’s like, it meant the world,” they told The Associated Press.

In operation for three decades, the facility is among the longest-running trans youth centers in the country and has served thousands of young people on public insurance.

Patients who haven't gone through puberty yet receive counseling, which continues throughout the care process. For some patients, the next step is puberty blockers; for others, it’s also hormone replacement therapy. Surgeries are rarely offered to minors.

“I’m one of the lucky ones,” said Pitchenik, who received hormone blockers after a lengthy process. “I learned how to not only survive but how to thrive in my own body because of the lifesaving health care provided to me right here at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.”

Many families are now scrambling to find care among a patchwork of private and public providers that are already stretched thin. It’s not just patient care, but research development that’s ending.

“It is a disappointment to see this abrupt closure disrupting the care that trans youth receive. But it’s also a stain on their legacy,” said Maria Do, community mobilization manager at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. “I think it showcases that they’re quick to abandon our most vulnerable members.”

The closure comes weeks after the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender care for minors, amid other efforts by the federal government to regulate the lives of transgender people.

The hospital initially backed off its plans to close after announcing them in February, spurring demonstrations, but later doubled back.

The center said in a statement that “despite this deeply held commitment to supporting LA’s gender-diverse community, the hospital has been left with no viable path forward” to stay open.ing to me,” she said.