Friends, I’ll tell you. Writing this week has been tough. I know you’re tired. And I know that because I am also so, so tired. I have dropped several balls. But I have also continued to show up wherever I can. I had the great pleasure of seeing an excellent documentary about decriminalization called Sex Work: It’s Just a Job and had the great pleasure of spending time with some of my favorite organizers. I also got to see my parents in person for the first time in a couple years!
I have also cried, and screamed with grief and rage. I’ve consoled loved ones. I wondered if that feeling in my chest was anxiety or heartbreak or a trip to the ER. (It was a mix of the first two.) I have sang, and prayed. I’ve stayed up all night watching an old man on TikTok play guitar and sing Conway Twitty. I was misgendered multiple times and had a fellow trans person call me a “filthy journalist” for asking permission to share an interview request. It’s a weird time to be alive.
So there is a strange mix of comfort in the regularity of this roundup email I’m sending today, with the eerie surrealism of doing something so mundane amidst such generational and horrifying events, and the terror of living in precarity and uncertainty on all sides.
I hope, wherever you are, that you have some space, some moments in your day or your week where you can be soft, warm, and held. That is a wish I keep in my heart for all of us. In this week’s email, we’ve got US state-by-state and federal news, and reactions to the UK’s puberty-blockers trial. You’ll find encouragement to keep fighting
Federal and DC
A federal judge found DOJ used subpoenas to "end gender-affirming care through fear" at Children's Hospital Colorado, recommending the subpoena be quashed. Courts have rejected similar DOJ subpoenas at Boston Children's Hospital, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Children's National Hospital in Maryland, and more, with judges finding requests pretextual and designed to intimidate rather than investigate actual wrongdoing.
DOJ withdrew its subpoena for medical records of 3,000+ transgender youth at Children's Hospital Los Angeles after legal challenge. The administration announced plans to expand anti-abortion aid restrictions to cover "gender ideology," threatening US-funded health programs worldwide.
In perhaps the week’s most hopeful news, the newly released House government funding bill was released and all anti-trans riders appear to have been removed, proving that Democrats do have the power to fight and win when they are unwilling to compromise on trans rights.
Florida
Legislators advanced SB 1010, imposing third-degree felony charges and up to $100,000 fines for doctors and counselors who advise minors about transgender therapies, extending Florida's 2023 care ban to target mental health professionals.
Illinois
Lurie Children's Hospital stopped prescriptions for gender-affirming medications for new minor patients days after HHS referred the hospital for federal investigation, citing threats to their "ability to care for all of our patients."
Missouri
Lawmakers heard six hours of testimony on bills removing sunset provisions from care bans and sports restrictions currently set to expire August 2027, with legislation also eliminating grandfather clauses allowing minors prescribed medication before 2023 to continue treatment.
Nebraska
Sen. Kathleen Kauth introduced three bills: LB 730 prohibiting transgender people from accessing bathrooms matching their gender in public buildings, LB 731 creating new provider liability, and LB 732 fully outlawing hormone and puberty blocker prescriptions for minors beginning 2027.
California
While California maintains legal protections, federal pressure threatens to undermine state-level safeguards through pending Supreme Court cases on sports participation and school notification policies.
Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego ended gender-affirming care effective February 6 after HHS investigation referral, affecting approximately 1,000 patients. Protesters gathered Saturday outside the hospital to oppose the closure.
US International Aid
The US plans to expand the Mexico City Policy framework beyond abortion to ban foreign aid supporting "gender ideology" and diversity programs, threatening global health initiatives providing or referring for gender-affirming care.
United Kingdom
TransActual criticized the NHS puberty blockers trial as "designed to reach a negative conclusion," with Healthcare Director Chay Brown stating trial methodology is "inherently coercive" and treats being trans "as a risk rather than natural human variation." WPATH, EPATH, and USPATH jointly expressed concerns the trial violates "internationally recognised ethical standards" by forcing adolescents meeting clinical criteria to delay treatment.
Do not disengage. Call your representatives. Rally for progressive candidates. Offer expert testimony. Run for office. Get out into the streets. Donate to mutual aid. Create care networks. Do whatever you can to resist authoritarianism and genocide.
Live in or know someone in New Brunswick? Write to the provincial government about the need for a gender-affirming care clinic in the province.
Document your now. Your grief. Your rage. Read, print and share Archiving the Now: A Zine Maker’s Guide to Action in Crisis. Then make some zines. Print and share them too. Share your knowledge and expertise. Share your art and your heart.
From Play Dates to Protest: Rainbow Families Chart a Trans Evolution: Bay Area collective of families with transgender children secured the only reported reversal of a hospital care stoppage after 150 protesters rallied at Sutter Health's Emeryville headquarters in December, forcing the hospital to reschedule canceled appointments.
Social media ban is "reactionary measure" that will harm LGBTQIA+ youth, campaigners warn: Proposed age restrictions disproportionately harm LGBTQIA+ youth who rely on platforms for community connection, with Australian studies showing 82% of queer youth concerned bans would increase isolation and 51% saying they feel more themselves online than in person.
How Trump targeted trans rights and the broader LGBTQ community in his first year back in office: Trump's second term brought unprecedented federal attacks including erasing trans people from Title IX protections, cutting $800 million in LGBTQ health research funding, nixing youth suicide prevention lifelines, and prompting 9% of trans individuals to relocate states while 43% considered moving.
Cis Women Are Taking Testosterone Now. This T-Boy Has Some Insight on That: As post- and peri-menopausal cisgender women turn to testosterone as the latest wellness fad featured in The New York Times, The Cut, and National Geographic, a transmasculine writer offers advice on managing side effects like balding, facial hair, bottom growth, and voice changes—noting the irony that legislators debate banning gender-affirming care for trans people while celebrating the same hormones as health fixes for cis women.
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Last week on Well Beings News, I published the first in our new monthly column, Buy the Book? Each month I’ll be bringing you a new review of a book relevant to health and wellness workers who care about marginalized communities.
Next week we’ll have another piece of original reporting, covering the rise in LGBTQ+ gun ownership and what care workers need to know about safety, plus a new installment of Peer Reviewed. I’m also very excited about a new collaboration in the works for Trans Day of Visibility in March, so keep your eyes out for more info on that coming soon!
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I’m so grateful for you. Thank you for being here, for sharing your inbox and your time with me, and for committing yourself to the kind of cultural humility that Dr. Grubbs talks about in last week’s column. I am here to learn for the rest of my life, and I’m so very gruntled (a word I just learned actually exists and now love) that you are here to do that with me.
I am really excited about the articles I’ve got coming up in the next few months, and the interviews I’ve got lined up and the books I’ve got to read and review for you. I’m looking forward to the collaborations I’ve got lined up with other journalists as well as queer health organizations and groups. Stay tuned for more updates about both of those. And stay strong, dear readers. I’m with you.
BJ Ferguson
Founder, Well Beings News
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