LGBTQ Lobby Incentivizes Transgender Procedures for Minors

There was a time when most people would’ve viewed transgender medical procedures on minors as outright child abuse. Now, not only are countless people fighting tooth and nail to keep “gender affirming care” legal, but one organization is actually incentivizing hospitals to chemically and surgically mutilate children. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), an LGBTQ rights group, persuades children’s hospitals to give transgender surgeries to minors, according to a report by Do No Harm. HRC uses a scoring index to measure a hospital’s “compliance with various tenets of gender ideology” and ranks each facility, giving away awards to motivate doctors into following HRC’s practices and policies. It’s a whirlwind of absurdities disguised as “life-saving care.” Despite the Trump administration’s efforts and the work of several state governments, numerous doctors and hospitals continue to advocate for and perform these dangerous procedures. But these services could be coming to an end.

Transgender Mistreatment

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January titled “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.” That made some hospitals pump the brakes on “gender affirming care” and even convinced a handful of clinics to shut down. But the administration’s actions have not stopped the die-hard doctors who either believe they’re saving children’s lives or will do anything to make a buck. It certainly hasn’t scared away groups like HRC, the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization in the US.

Do No Harm’s report found 41 children’s hospitals and various pediatric operations throughout the health system that have deliberately sought HRC’s approval and fully adhere to its Healthcare Equality Index (HEI). With HEI, participants earn points based on five criteria: “Non-Discrimination and Staff Training,” “Patient Services and Support,” “Employee Benefits and Policies,” “Patient and Community Engagement,” and “Responsible Citizenship.” Between 2008 and 2024, HEI grew from 88 participants to 1,065.

Facilities can lose points for “major” and “minor” offenses, such as ending “LGBTQ+ inclusive policies” or being involved in practices that go against the “organization’s written LGBTQ+ patient or employment policies,” according to the report. The goal is to hit 100. This is apparently a big deal in the rainbow realm and signals to people looking for these services that the hospital or clinic is on the up and up.

Then there’s the Corporate Equality Index, which requires participants to offer “transgender inclusive health care coverage.” That includes having insurance companies pay for puberty blockers and other sex trait modifications for minors. Nearly 1,500 companies, employing more than 22 million Americans, participate in the CEI 2025, meaning “insurance coverage for pediatric medical transition is widespread,” explains Do No Harm.

Some of HRC’s transgender initiatives include “writing the manual on pediatric sex trait modifications, enticing school children to consider where they fit on the gender spectrum, standing against legislation that restrains the medical transition of minors, and fighting for insurance companies to cover sex trait modifying medications and procedures for children.”

“By capitulating to the HRC’s political scheme, hospitals have utterly betrayed patients, especially children struggling with gender dysphoria,” said Dr. Kurt Miceli in a statement obtained by The Center Square. “If health systems care about providing high-quality pediatric care, then they should distance themselves from the HRC and its Index.” Miceli co-authored the report and is Do No Harm’s medical director.

This is just a snapshot of the 36-page report. HRC’s methods and reach are far more extensive than described here. Its influence, however, could soon lose its power.

The DOJ Dishes Out Subpoenas

President Trump’s executive order was a giant leap toward ending this cult-like behavior. As of March, 27 states have passed bills to protect minors from transgender interventions, such as “puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and transgender surgeries.” But judges in six states have permanently or temporarily blocked the protective laws. Still, representatives are working on bills in other states to ban the same abusive practices.

Hospitals nationwide are starting to get the hint. Near the end of August, “Kaiser Permanente, a health care company that manages 40 hospitals across several states,” will pause “gender-related surgeries for patients under age 18,” explains ABC News. Starting August 30, Children’s National Hospital in DC will no longer prescribe “gender affirming medications.” Other big-name facilities pausing or shutting down similar services include Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Stanford Medicine, and Pittsburgh’s UPMC.

Expect more to cease these operations, too. In July, the Justice Department said it had sent more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics “involved in performing transgender medical procedures on children,” demanding a wide range of patient information related to transgender children. “Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi in a statement.

Sadly, so long as there’s money to be made, there will always be people willing to package child abuse as lifesaving care. But for people so hypnotized by DEI and other progressive ideologies that they truly believe people can be born in the wrong body, it’ll take more than an executive order and a few laws to make them see the light.