Boston Children S Hospital Says It Faces Threats After Tweets Criticizing Transgender Treatment

New England’s largest children’s hospital said Wednesday it is fending off a barrage of threats and harassment targeting staff who treat transgender patients after conservative influencers attacked them with false and misleading social media posts. Boston Children’s Hospital said it asked law enforcement for help protecting its employees and patients after experiencing “a large volume of hostile Internet activity, phone calls and harassing emails, including threats of violence to our clinicians and staff ». It said the threats began last week after Twitter accounts popular on the far right circulated what the hospital called misinformation about transgender care. The hospital said the vitriol was aimed specifically at its Gender Multispecialty Service program, the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program established in the United States. The program specializes in treating young people with gender dysphoria, the condition in which a person’s gender identity does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth. “We condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms and reject the false narrative they are based on,” Boston Children’s said in an emailed statement. “We are working with law enforcement to protect our clinicians, staff, patients, families and the greater Boston Children’s community and to hold offenders accountable. We will continue to take all appropriate measures to protect our people.” A spokesman for the Boston Police Department, Sgt. Det. John Boyle, said police had launched an investigation into the matter but declined to comment further. Transgender medical care — and care for transgender youth in particular — has become a hot-button issue for conservative activists and politicians, who in recent months have stepped up criticism of gender-affirming surgery and treatment and sought to limit access. in such services. Anti-trans harassment targeting hospitals could deter transgender patients from seeking gender-affirming care, CP Hoffman, senior policy adviser at the National Center for Transgender Equality, said in an interview. It could “make it very scary for people and their family members going for gender-affirming care,” they said. Leading medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, support providing gender-affirming care to youth experiencing gender dysphoria. Public opinion has also tilted toward allowing transgender people to access gender-affirming care, according to polls. The threats against Boston Children’s come at a time when hospital workers and public health officials across the country have faced waves of harassment over their response to the coronavirus pandemic. Angry callers have flooded hospital phone lines, and local health workers across the country have faced threats, slurs, vandalism and other forms of harassment. Boston Children’s said it began receiving the threatening messages after the right-wing Twitter account Libs of TikTok, which often promotes anti-LGBTQ sentiment, posted a video from the hospital explaining hysterectomies to its 1.3 million followers. The Twitter account owner declined to comment. The post, which was shared by many prominent conservatives and retweeted thousands of times, claimed the hospital performed the surgeries on “young girls”. Boston Children’s said it does not perform gender-confirming hysterectomies on patients under 18. A number of subsequent publications took aim at the hospital’s other gender-affirming treatments, some suggesting that Boston Children’s doctors performed other genital surgeries on children. The hospital said in an email to the Washington Post that it “does not perform genital surgery as part of gender-affirming care on a patient under the age of 18.” An archived version of the Boston Children’s website appeared to indicate that colpoplasty, the surgical construction of a vagina, was available to 17-year-olds. The hospital said that while patients could receive surgical appointments at 17, they must be “between 18 and 35 years of age at the time of surgery”. An updated version of the website reflects that policy, the hospital said. “The commentary and ensuing online attention was based on the false statement that Boston Children’s performs genital surgery on minors in connection with transgender care,” the hospital said. “For hysterectomies and other genital surgeries performed as part of gender-affirming care, Boston Children’s requires that a patient be able to consent on their own. The age of 18 is used to reflect the standard age of majority for medical decision-making.” Some of the same accounts that posted about transgender care for Boston children went on to post disturbing tweets about children’s hospitals in Pittsburgh and Phoenix that offer transgender medical care. One tweet called for rallies outside hospitals that are “losing children.” Yotam Ophir, an assistant professor of communication at the University at Buffalo who specializes in understanding health misinformation, said online harassment campaigns could make it harder for patients to access gender-affirming treatment — and make doctors less willing to they provide it. “If it leads to so much negativity,” Ophir told The Post, “if it leads to attacks on staff, if it leads to threats and harassment, maybe another hospital would just say, ‘You know what, it’s not worth it.’ “ Hoffman, of the National Center for Transgender Equality, advised young non-binary and transgender patients to seek gender-affirming care despite the challenges. “I would say that while it can certainly be scary to put yourself out there, especially in situations where we see facilities and trans people being targeted,” they said, “the potential joy of being able to live as your true self is worth it. .”

title: “Boston Children S Hospital Says It Faces Threats After Tweets Criticizing Transgender Treatment Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-09” author: “Martin Ramirez”

New England’s largest children’s hospital said Wednesday it is fending off a barrage of threats and harassment targeting staff who treat transgender patients after conservative influencers attacked them with false and misleading social media posts. Boston Children’s Hospital said it asked law enforcement for help protecting its employees and patients after experiencing “a large volume of hostile Internet activity, phone calls and harassing emails, including threats of violence to our clinicians and staff ». It said the threats began last week after Twitter accounts popular on the far right circulated what the hospital called misinformation about transgender care. The hospital said the vitriol was aimed specifically at its Gender Multispecialty Service program, the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program established in the United States. The program specializes in treating young people with gender dysphoria, the condition in which a person’s gender identity does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth. “We condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms and reject the false narrative they are based on,” Boston Children’s said in an emailed statement. “We are working with law enforcement to protect our clinicians, staff, patients, families and the greater Boston Children’s community and to hold offenders accountable. We will continue to take all appropriate measures to protect our people.” A spokesman for the Boston Police Department, Sgt. Det. John Boyle, said police had launched an investigation into the matter but declined to comment further. Transgender medical care — and care for transgender youth in particular — has become a hot-button issue for conservative activists and politicians, who in recent months have stepped up criticism of gender-affirming surgery and treatment and sought to limit access. in such services. Anti-trans harassment targeting hospitals could deter transgender patients from seeking gender-affirming care, CP Hoffman, senior policy adviser at the National Center for Transgender Equality, said in an interview. It could “make it very scary for people and their family members going for gender-affirming care,” they said. Leading medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, support providing gender-affirming care to youth experiencing gender dysphoria. Public opinion has also tilted toward allowing transgender people to access gender-affirming care, according to polls. The threats against Boston Children’s come at a time when hospital workers and public health officials across the country have faced waves of harassment over their response to the coronavirus pandemic. Angry callers have flooded hospital phone lines, and local health workers across the country have faced threats, slurs, vandalism and other forms of harassment. Boston Children’s said it began receiving the threatening messages after the right-wing Twitter account Libs of TikTok, which often promotes anti-LGBTQ sentiment, posted a video from the hospital explaining hysterectomies to its 1.3 million followers. The Twitter account owner declined to comment. The post, which was shared by many prominent conservatives and retweeted thousands of times, claimed the hospital performed the surgeries on “young girls”. Boston Children’s said it does not perform gender-confirming hysterectomies on patients under 18. A number of subsequent publications took aim at the hospital’s other gender-affirming treatments, some suggesting that Boston Children’s doctors performed other genital surgeries on children. The hospital said in an email to the Washington Post that it “does not perform genital surgery as part of gender-affirming care on a patient under the age of 18.” An archived version of the Boston Children’s website appeared to indicate that colpoplasty, the surgical construction of a vagina, was available to 17-year-olds. The hospital said that while patients could receive surgical appointments at 17, they must be “between 18 and 35 years of age at the time of surgery”. An updated version of the website reflects that policy, the hospital said. “The commentary and ensuing online attention was based on the false statement that Boston Children’s performs genital surgery on minors in connection with transgender care,” the hospital said. “For hysterectomies and other genital surgeries performed as part of gender-affirming care, Boston Children’s requires that a patient be able to consent on their own. The age of 18 is used to reflect the standard age of majority for medical decision-making.” Some of the same accounts that posted about transgender care for Boston children went on to post disturbing tweets about children’s hospitals in Pittsburgh and Phoenix that offer transgender medical care. One tweet called for rallies outside hospitals that are “losing children.” Yotam Ophir, an assistant professor of communication at the University at Buffalo who specializes in understanding health misinformation, said online harassment campaigns could make it harder for patients to access gender-affirming treatment — and make doctors less willing to they provide it. “If it leads to so much negativity,” Ophir told The Post, “if it leads to attacks on staff, if it leads to threats and harassment, maybe another hospital would just say, ‘You know what, it’s not worth it.’ “ Hoffman, of the National Center for Transgender Equality, advised young non-binary and transgender patients to seek gender-affirming care despite the challenges. “I would say that while it can certainly be scary to put yourself out there, especially in situations where we see facilities and trans people being targeted,” they said, “the potential joy of being able to live as your true self is worth it. .”

title: “Boston Children S Hospital Says It Faces Threats After Tweets Criticizing Transgender Treatment Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-16” author: “James Garvey”

New England’s largest children’s hospital said Wednesday it is fending off a barrage of threats and harassment targeting staff who treat transgender patients after conservative influencers attacked them with false and misleading social media posts. Boston Children’s Hospital said it asked law enforcement for help protecting its employees and patients after experiencing “a large volume of hostile Internet activity, phone calls and harassing emails, including threats of violence to our clinicians and staff ». It said the threats began last week after Twitter accounts popular on the far right circulated what the hospital called misinformation about transgender care. The hospital said the vitriol was aimed specifically at its Gender Multispecialty Service program, the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program established in the United States. The program specializes in treating young people with gender dysphoria, the condition in which a person’s gender identity does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth. “We condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms and reject the false narrative they are based on,” Boston Children’s said in an emailed statement. “We are working with law enforcement to protect our clinicians, staff, patients, families and the greater Boston Children’s community and to hold offenders accountable. We will continue to take all appropriate measures to protect our people.” A spokesman for the Boston Police Department, Sgt. Det. John Boyle, said police had launched an investigation into the matter but declined to comment further. Transgender medical care — and care for transgender youth in particular — has become a hot-button issue for conservative activists and politicians, who in recent months have stepped up criticism of gender-affirming surgery and treatment and sought to limit access. in such services. Anti-trans harassment targeting hospitals could deter transgender patients from seeking gender-affirming care, CP Hoffman, senior policy adviser at the National Center for Transgender Equality, said in an interview. It could “make it very scary for people and their family members going for gender-affirming care,” they said. Leading medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, support providing gender-affirming care to youth experiencing gender dysphoria. Public opinion has also tilted toward allowing transgender people to access gender-affirming care, according to polls. The threats against Boston Children’s come at a time when hospital workers and public health officials across the country have faced waves of harassment over their response to the coronavirus pandemic. Angry callers have flooded hospital phone lines, and local health workers across the country have faced threats, slurs, vandalism and other forms of harassment. Boston Children’s said it began receiving the threatening messages after the right-wing Twitter account Libs of TikTok, which often promotes anti-LGBTQ sentiment, posted a video from the hospital explaining hysterectomies to its 1.3 million followers. The Twitter account owner declined to comment. The post, which was shared by many prominent conservatives and retweeted thousands of times, claimed the hospital performed the surgeries on “young girls”. Boston Children’s said it does not perform gender-confirming hysterectomies on patients under 18. A number of subsequent publications took aim at the hospital’s other gender-affirming treatments, some suggesting that Boston Children’s doctors performed other genital surgeries on children. The hospital said in an email to the Washington Post that it “does not perform genital surgery as part of gender-affirming care on a patient under the age of 18.” An archived version of the Boston Children’s website appeared to indicate that colpoplasty, the surgical construction of a vagina, was available to 17-year-olds. The hospital said that while patients could receive surgical appointments at 17, they must be “between 18 and 35 years of age at the time of surgery”. An updated version of the website reflects that policy, the hospital said. “The commentary and ensuing online attention was based on the false statement that Boston Children’s performs genital surgery on minors in connection with transgender care,” the hospital said. “For hysterectomies and other genital surgeries performed as part of gender-affirming care, Boston Children’s requires that a patient be able to consent on their own. The age of 18 is used to reflect the standard age of majority for medical decision-making.” Some of the same accounts that posted about transgender care for Boston children went on to post disturbing tweets about children’s hospitals in Pittsburgh and Phoenix that offer transgender medical care. One tweet called for rallies outside hospitals that are “losing children.” Yotam Ophir, an assistant professor of communication at the University at Buffalo who specializes in understanding health misinformation, said online harassment campaigns could make it harder for patients to access gender-affirming treatment — and make doctors less willing to they provide it. “If it leads to so much negativity,” Ophir told The Post, “if it leads to attacks on staff, if it leads to threats and harassment, maybe another hospital would just say, ‘You know what, it’s not worth it.’ “ Hoffman, of the National Center for Transgender Equality, advised young non-binary and transgender patients to seek gender-affirming care despite the challenges. “I would say that while it can certainly be scary to put yourself out there, especially in situations where we see facilities and trans people being targeted,” they said, “the potential joy of being able to live as your true self is worth it. .”

title: “Boston Children S Hospital Says It Faces Threats After Tweets Criticizing Transgender Treatment Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-25” author: “Ruby Taylor”

New England’s largest children’s hospital said Wednesday it is fending off a barrage of threats and harassment targeting staff who treat transgender patients after conservative influencers attacked them with false and misleading social media posts. Boston Children’s Hospital said it asked law enforcement for help protecting its employees and patients after experiencing “a large volume of hostile Internet activity, phone calls and harassing emails, including threats of violence to our clinicians and staff ». It said the threats began last week after Twitter accounts popular on the far right circulated what the hospital called misinformation about transgender care. The hospital said the vitriol was aimed specifically at its Gender Multispecialty Service program, the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program established in the United States. The program specializes in treating young people with gender dysphoria, the condition in which a person’s gender identity does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth. “We condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms and reject the false narrative they are based on,” Boston Children’s said in an emailed statement. “We are working with law enforcement to protect our clinicians, staff, patients, families and the greater Boston Children’s community and to hold offenders accountable. We will continue to take all appropriate measures to protect our people.” A spokesman for the Boston Police Department, Sgt. Det. John Boyle, said police had launched an investigation into the matter but declined to comment further. Transgender medical care — and care for transgender youth in particular — has become a hot-button issue for conservative activists and politicians, who in recent months have stepped up criticism of gender-affirming surgery and treatment and sought to limit access. in such services. Anti-trans harassment targeting hospitals could deter transgender patients from seeking gender-affirming care, CP Hoffman, senior policy adviser at the National Center for Transgender Equality, said in an interview. It could “make it very scary for people and their family members going for gender-affirming care,” they said. Leading medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, support providing gender-affirming care to youth experiencing gender dysphoria. Public opinion has also tilted toward allowing transgender people to access gender-affirming care, according to polls. The threats against Boston Children’s come at a time when hospital workers and public health officials across the country have faced waves of harassment over their response to the coronavirus pandemic. Angry callers have flooded hospital phone lines, and local health workers across the country have faced threats, slurs, vandalism and other forms of harassment. Boston Children’s said it began receiving the threatening messages after the right-wing Twitter account Libs of TikTok, which often promotes anti-LGBTQ sentiment, posted a video from the hospital explaining hysterectomies to its 1.3 million followers. The Twitter account owner declined to comment. The post, which was shared by many prominent conservatives and retweeted thousands of times, claimed the hospital performed the surgeries on “young girls”. Boston Children’s said it does not perform gender-confirming hysterectomies on patients under 18. A number of subsequent publications took aim at the hospital’s other gender-affirming treatments, some suggesting that Boston Children’s doctors performed other genital surgeries on children. The hospital said in an email to the Washington Post that it “does not perform genital surgery as part of gender-affirming care on a patient under the age of 18.” An archived version of the Boston Children’s website appeared to indicate that colpoplasty, the surgical construction of a vagina, was available to 17-year-olds. The hospital said that while patients could receive surgical appointments at 17, they must be “between 18 and 35 years of age at the time of surgery”. An updated version of the website reflects that policy, the hospital said. “The commentary and ensuing online attention was based on the false statement that Boston Children’s performs genital surgery on minors in connection with transgender care,” the hospital said. “For hysterectomies and other genital surgeries performed as part of gender-affirming care, Boston Children’s requires that a patient be able to consent on their own. The age of 18 is used to reflect the standard age of majority for medical decision-making.” Some of the same accounts that posted about transgender care for Boston children went on to post disturbing tweets about children’s hospitals in Pittsburgh and Phoenix that offer transgender medical care. One tweet called for rallies outside hospitals that are “losing children.” Yotam Ophir, an assistant professor of communication at the University at Buffalo who specializes in understanding health misinformation, said online harassment campaigns could make it harder for patients to access gender-affirming treatment — and make doctors less willing to they provide it. “If it leads to so much negativity,” Ophir told The Post, “if it leads to attacks on staff, if it leads to threats and harassment, maybe another hospital would just say, ‘You know what, it’s not worth it.’ “ Hoffman, of the National Center for Transgender Equality, advised young non-binary and transgender patients to seek gender-affirming care despite the challenges. “I would say that while it can certainly be scary to put yourself out there, especially in situations where we see facilities and trans people being targeted,” they said, “the potential joy of being able to live as your true self is worth it. .”

title: “Boston Children S Hospital Says It Faces Threats After Tweets Criticizing Transgender Treatment Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-05” author: “Alex Kenny”

New England’s largest children’s hospital said Wednesday it is fending off a barrage of threats and harassment targeting staff who treat transgender patients after conservative influencers attacked them with false and misleading social media posts. Boston Children’s Hospital said it asked law enforcement for help protecting its employees and patients after experiencing “a large volume of hostile Internet activity, phone calls and harassing emails, including threats of violence to our clinicians and staff ». It said the threats began last week after Twitter accounts popular on the far right circulated what the hospital called misinformation about transgender care. The hospital said the vitriol was aimed specifically at its Gender Multispecialty Service program, the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program established in the United States. The program specializes in treating young people with gender dysphoria, the condition in which a person’s gender identity does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth. “We condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms and reject the false narrative they are based on,” Boston Children’s said in an emailed statement. “We are working with law enforcement to protect our clinicians, staff, patients, families and the greater Boston Children’s community and to hold offenders accountable. We will continue to take all appropriate measures to protect our people.” A spokesman for the Boston Police Department, Sgt. Det. John Boyle, said police had launched an investigation into the matter but declined to comment further. Transgender medical care — and care for transgender youth in particular — has become a hot-button issue for conservative activists and politicians, who in recent months have stepped up criticism of gender-affirming surgery and treatment and sought to limit access. in such services. Anti-trans harassment targeting hospitals could deter transgender patients from seeking gender-affirming care, CP Hoffman, senior policy adviser at the National Center for Transgender Equality, said in an interview. It could “make it very scary for people and their family members going for gender-affirming care,” they said. Leading medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, support providing gender-affirming care to youth experiencing gender dysphoria. Public opinion has also tilted toward allowing transgender people to access gender-affirming care, according to polls. The threats against Boston Children’s come at a time when hospital workers and public health officials across the country have faced waves of harassment over their response to the coronavirus pandemic. Angry callers have flooded hospital phone lines, and local health workers across the country have faced threats, slurs, vandalism and other forms of harassment. Boston Children’s said it began receiving the threatening messages after the right-wing Twitter account Libs of TikTok, which often promotes anti-LGBTQ sentiment, posted a video from the hospital explaining hysterectomies to its 1.3 million followers. The Twitter account owner declined to comment. The post, which was shared by many prominent conservatives and retweeted thousands of times, claimed the hospital performed the surgeries on “young girls”. Boston Children’s said it does not perform gender-confirming hysterectomies on patients under 18. A number of subsequent publications took aim at the hospital’s other gender-affirming treatments, some suggesting that Boston Children’s doctors performed other genital surgeries on children. The hospital said in an email to the Washington Post that it “does not perform genital surgery as part of gender-affirming care on a patient under the age of 18.” An archived version of the Boston Children’s website appeared to indicate that colpoplasty, the surgical construction of a vagina, was available to 17-year-olds. The hospital said that while patients could receive surgical appointments at 17, they must be “between 18 and 35 years of age at the time of surgery”. An updated version of the website reflects that policy, the hospital said. “The commentary and ensuing online attention was based on the false statement that Boston Children’s performs genital surgery on minors in connection with transgender care,” the hospital said. “For hysterectomies and other genital surgeries performed as part of gender-affirming care, Boston Children’s requires that a patient be able to consent on their own. The age of 18 is used to reflect the standard age of majority for medical decision-making.” Some of the same accounts that posted about transgender care for Boston children went on to post disturbing tweets about children’s hospitals in Pittsburgh and Phoenix that offer transgender medical care. One tweet called for rallies outside hospitals that are “losing children.” Yotam Ophir, an assistant professor of communication at the University at Buffalo who specializes in understanding health misinformation, said online harassment campaigns could make it harder for patients to access gender-affirming treatment — and make doctors less willing to they provide it. “If it leads to so much negativity,” Ophir told The Post, “if it leads to attacks on staff, if it leads to threats and harassment, maybe another hospital would just say, ‘You know what, it’s not worth it.’ “ Hoffman, of the National Center for Transgender Equality, advised young non-binary and transgender patients to seek gender-affirming care despite the challenges. “I would say that while it can certainly be scary to put yourself out there, especially in situations where we see facilities and trans people being targeted,” they said, “the potential joy of being able to live as your true self is worth it. .”