California Hospitals Violate Trans Youth Civil Rights—Working People Must Hold Them Accountable

Dec 11

On December 10, Sutter Health became the latest California hospital to violate state civil rights law by ending all gender-affirming care for trans youth—abandoning hundreds of families who depend on this medically necessary treatment. They reversed this decision because of public pressure, but families worry this is only a temporary reprieve. This follows similar civil rights violations by Kaiser Permanente, Stanford Medicine, and Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. All four hospitals capitulated to Trump's executive order—even after federal courts blocked it and California Attorney General Rob Bonta explicitly told them they had a legal obligation under state law to continue care. California Democrats control every lever of power in Sacramento, yet they refuse to hold billion-dollar hospital systems accountable for discriminating against transgender youth. This is what corporate control of our government looks like: politicians protect hospital profits over trans kids' lives, while 194 billionaires hoard $1.2 trillion and working families can't afford healthcare.

California Hospitals Are Breaking California Civil Rights Law

In January 2025, Donald Trump signed an executive order attacking gender-affirming care for minors. But in California, access to gender-affirming care is a legal right for all residents under California law, which requires health plans to maintain networks that provide this care.

This month, Sutter Health, northern California's largest hospital system with 3.5 million patients, ended all gender-affirming care for patients under 19, including hormone therapy and puberty blockers. Sutter Health backtracked after Rainbow Families Action, a Bay Area group with nearly 300 families, staged a protest outside their Emeryville facility. Other hospitals have been moving forward with their decision: Kaiser Permanente and Stanford Medicine (which paused care earlier in 2025) stopped gender affirming surgeries for minors this year. Children's Hospital of Los Angeles closed its pediatric gender clinic entirely in July 2025. Thousands of trans minors now have no idea where they will get necessary care.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta explicitly warned hospitals in February 2025 that refusing care "based on gender identity...while offering such services to cisgender individuals, is discrimination" under California's Unruh Civil Rights Act and Government Code section 11135. Despite this clear legal warning and federal court injunctions protecting hospitals from losing federal funding, hospital executives chose to abandon their patients anyway. Gender-affirming care is a legal right in California, but hospital executives are prioritizing billion-dollar federal revenue streams and Trump's culture wars over their patients.

California Must Treat This as a Civil Rights Crisis

California is not taking the urgent steps it can take to restore access. The state joined a multi-state lawsuit against the Trump administration, but this suit has no guarantee of succeeding and will take months to resolve. This is completely inadequate to the urgent crisis facing trans youth.

Attorney General Rob Bonta needs to hold hospitals accountable for breaking California law. The attorney general has numerous political, legal, and financial tools: bring civil lawsuits against hospitals for violating state anti-discrimination protections for gender identity; direct the Department of Insurance and Department of Managed Health Care to impose fines; tie hospital relicensing and state funding to compliance with civil rights law.

Governor Newsom could declare a state of emergency under California Government Code §8625. This would unlock emergency powers to bypass federal threats and restore access immediately. California's billions in rainy day reserves can replace any federal cuts. California should not be extorted by Trump into abandoning trans kids.

But despite Attorney General Bonta's February 2025 letter warning hospitals they were breaking the law, he has taken no enforcement action in the ten months since. Governor Newsom, who controls a $4 trillion economy and a Democratic supermajority in the legislature, has declared no emergency, imposed no fines, and filed no lawsuits. California Democrats had ten months to act—and chose not to.

This is a pattern: corporations cave to far-right attacks while California Democrats—funded by those same corporations—refuse to hold them accountable. Hospital industry executives and their PACs donated millions to California Democratic legislators. Those same Democrats now have every tool to restore care—emergency powers, fines, civil lawsuits—but choose not to use them.

Healthcare Is a Right, Not a Commodity

The source of this crisis is the for-profit healthcare system. Trans youth and their families are working people—and billionaire-run hospitals are choosing profits over their lives while California Democratic politicians, bankrolled by hospital industry donors, look the other way.

Ramsey would implement a universal healthcare system in California, protected by a State Department of Anti-Discrimination. Everyone would be covered for everything—gender-affirming care, dental, vision, mental health, reproductive care, and elder care—regardless of immigration status. There would be no more co-pays, deductibles, or bills. Corporations could not collude with far-right attacks on trans kids. The LGBTQ community would elect officials who, together with electeds from other historically oppressed communities, would have political power to prevent healthcare discrimination and enforce their civil rights.

Under Ramsey's plan at ramsey4gov.com, hospitals couldn't hold trans kids hostage to federal funding threats because healthcare would be fully publicly funded and democratically controlled by working people, not corporate boards. This is exactly why we need a socialist government—to put people over profits.

California has a $4 trillion economy. We can fully fund our healthcare system with the vast wealth that already exists here. Any cuts to federal funding can be immediately replaced by taxing the ultra-wealthy, including billionaires who live in California. But politicians in Sacramento listen to billionaires who deny trans kids care. We need a system that puts working people in charge, not the billionaire class.

Our Demands: Trans Youth Deserve Immediate Action

California must act now to restore access to gender-affirming care for trans youth:

Declare a state of emergency under California Government Code §8625 to unlock emergency powers and restore access immediately
Use rainy day reserves to replace any federal cuts and guarantee funding for gender-affirming care statewide
Direct the Attorney General to bring civil lawsuits against hospitals violating state anti-discrimination protections for gender identity
Impose fines and enforcement actions through the Department of Insurance and Department of Managed Health Care against hospitals denying care
Tie hospital relicensing and state funding to compliance with California civil rights law requiring gender-affirming care networks

Take Action Now

Trans youth and their families need immediate solidarity. If you're tired of the rigged system where California Democrats abandon working people while protecting corporate hospital profits:

Register Peace and Freedom Party—California's socialist party—at ramsey4gov.com. Every PFP registration is a vote of no confidence in the corporate parties. That's how we build an independent movement for working people.

Volunteer with Ramsey4Gov to organize for trans rights and free healthcare in your community—phone banking, canvassing, coalition building with trans rights organizations and healthcare worker unions.

Donate to our 100% working-class funded campaign (no corporate PAC money): Donate here.

Scott Brown