Caffeinated Politics

On New Year’s Eve at a large gathering, I was heartened that someone felt at ease to open up and converse about a gender issue within their family, the type of story that too often makes headlines. Sitting across the table from that mom, while we ate homemade holiday cookies, I was struck that this was one of the many topics we discussed. As chaos is purposely created for partisan purposes and culture-war divisions, this woman was taking a chance by being so honest.

What she said was very much how a local news story this evening pointed out that the therapies create a physical and psychological advantage, so the child feels more upbeat and like themself. “I love this child no matter what gender identity they identify with.”

A gut punch for families dealing with gender identity issues was reported today as Children’s Wisconsin and UW Health have stopped providing gender-affirming care treatments to minors, citing recent federal policy changes. The move was made after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last month that it would propose a rule to prevent hospitals that offer gender-affirming care to minors from participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs.

The warped fixation that the Donald Trump administration has about the trans community is breathtaking. Transgender people make up 1% of the public, underscoring Trump’s desire to be cruel. This overt act of bigotry is staggering, even when measured by Trump’s standards. To think that medical decisions should be made based on religious beliefs or political affiliations is so disheartening to read about in the 21st century.

What should strike us like a thunderbolt is that both of these medical facilities in Wisconsin, two of the state’s most respected health systems, did not halt gender‑affirming medical care for minors based on medical decisions. Rather, the decisions were forced on them for political purposes. It is a direct attack on the ability of transgender children and teenagers to receive medically necessary care. Advocates warned that the loss of required medical access could lead to serious mental‑health consequences for transgender youth.

Halting this care is medically unsound. Every major medical organization in the United States, from the American Academy of Pediatrics to the Endocrine Society, recognizes gender‑affirming care for youth as evidence‑based, safe, and often lifesaving. These treatments are not experimental. They are not political statements. They are standard medical interventions supported by decades of clinical practice and research. Yet the Trump administration’s policy framework, as described in multiple reports, frames gender‑affirming care as “unsafe and ineffective” and seeks to punish hospitals for providing it. That framing is not rooted in medical science. It is rooted in ideology, and ideology has no place in the lives of minors needing to deal with gender issues.

Transgender kids know who they are. They are not confused. A woman on the local news tonight stated her then three-year-old kid told her years ago, “I am a boy.” Children like that are not being manipulated. They are not political pawns. Unless conservatives wish to make them into one. Gender‑affirming care for minors is not about surgeries, despite the misinformation that often circulates on right-wing ‘news’ sources. For most young people, it involves social support, counseling, and — when appropriate — puberty blockers or hormone therapy. When you take that care away, you don’t create neutrality. You create harm. You tell a child that their identity is invalid. You tell a teenager that their future is negotiable. You tell families that their love for their child is suspect. And you tell doctors that their medical judgment is subordinate to Trump’s vast and all-knowing mind.

I absolutely argue that supporting gender‑affirming care is morally right. It is rooted in compassion, respect, and the simple belief that every child deserves the chance to grow into themselves without fear.

What we see play out in front of us isn’t governance. It’s bullying. And when cruelty becomes a governing principle, it corrodes the very foundation of civic life. It is immoral to threaten to cut off Medicare and Medicaid funding. That is an attack on the integrity of the entire healthcare system. Hospitals cannot function without these programs. Forcing them to choose between financial survival and providing evidence‑based care is coercive and dangerous.

UW Health and Children’s Wisconsin did not want to halt care for these minors. But the Trump Administration wants us to forget there are peer-reviewed studies that show a marked improvement in the mental health of transgender and gender diverse youth who receive gender-affirming care. We are told to forget that studies show how this care is medically necessary and can be lifesaving. Forget that the American Academy of Pediatrics supports access to gender-affirming care for minors. What we are told to forget is mind-numbing.

This is cruelty on steroids.