A recent battle between the United States Department of Justice and Rhode Island Hospital ended with a Texas judge receiving the anonymized medical records of patients at Hasbro Children’s Hospital’s gender clinic.
Originally, the Department of Justice tried to lift the medical records of patients at Hasbro Children’s Hospital’s gender clinic. In a press release explaining the Department of Justice’s actions, Attorney General Pamela Bondi said, “medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice.”
Both the Office of the Rhode Island Child Advocate and Brown University Health sued to prevent the release of these files. Judge Mary S. McElroy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island initially blocked the DOJ’s request. However, after a separate order from a Texas judge, anonymized versions of the records were ultimately provided to that court while appeals continue.
Those in and supporting the transgender community see this as a threat because the Trump administration is unfairly targeting trans people in America by trying and sometimes succeeding to take away their healthcare, legal identities, and more. They believe that the government wants to use these medical records of minors who received gender-affirming care to target the community.
For transgender students at Lincoln High School, who are already dealing with so much, this legal battle hits close to home. These files could include Lincoln students, and regardless, a threat to some members of the transgender community is a threat to everyone in it.
“It’s scary because it’s a breach of personal information and a weird abuse of power,” said sophomore Percy Rooney. “It gives me anxiety about what they could possibly do with that, and how they could use it against me and other trans students.”
Transgender LHS alum Ciarán Connell feels similarly.
“What are they going to try to do with it?” said Connell. “Are they trying to compile a list of all trans kids in the U.S. or what? What’s their plan? If other kids know that their information will be shared, it prevents them from possibly coming out, or pursuing their transition further.”
Mrs. Ashley Pavao, English teacher at LHS and advisor of the school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance, deeply values her transgender students.
“Thank goodness that there is a judge who is willing to stand up for people who don’t have strong voices advocating for them,” said Pavao. “It’s very important for adults to be able to advocate for children.”
She went on to speak about the importance of privacy.
“It’s not for me to decide if privacy is important to kids or not,” said Pavao. “And if they want to remain private with their [gender] or sexual orientation, that’s totally fine by me. I just want them to feel welcome and comfortable. Literally nothing should be a barrier to them feeling like they belong.”
Rooney and Connell encourage allies to the transgender community to make a difference.
“Just speak out,” said Connell. “The percentage of trans people is small. By ourselves, we can’t change much. But with allies, it is enough to fight against transphobes.”
“Reach out to your trans friends and do what you can to help out,” said Rooney. “Don’t just go along with what everyone else is doing. Provide extra support and help out in any way you can.”
