District of Columbia
Libs of TikTok targets Children’s National Hospital
Twitter account incorrectly claimed hysterectomies on transgender minors performed
Childrenās National Hospital has become the target of threatening phone calls, email messages and social media postings after a widely read far-right Twitter account known as Libs of TikTok posted an incorrect report claiming the hospital routinely performs hysterectomies on transgender patients under the age of 18.
Libs of TikTok founder Chaya Raichik included in her Aug. 25 posting audio recordings of two Childrenās National Hospital telephone operators who the hospital says incorrectly stated that a trans boy as young as 16 would be eligible for a hysterectomy.
āWe do not and have never provided gender-affirming surgery for anyone under the age of 18,ā according to an email statement the hospital’s media office sent to the Washington Blade. Ā āIn fact, in D.C. you cannot perform a hysterectomy in a minor without a court order,ā the statement says.
āWe do not provide hormone therapy to children before puberty begins,ā the statement continues. āCare is individualized for each patent and always involves families making decisions in coordination with a team of highly trained pediatric specialists,ā it says.
āNone of the people who were secretly recorded by this activist group deliver care to our patients,ā says the statement. āThe information in the recording is not accurate. To reiterate, we do not and have never performed gender affirming hysterectomies on minors,ā it says.
The statement added, āSince the spreading of misinformation on Twitter, we have been the target of a large volume of hostile phone calls, social media messages and emails.ā
The Washington Post has reported that the harassment encountered by the hospital has included social media posts suggesting that it be bombed, and its doctors placed in a woodchipper.
According to the Children’s National Hospitalās statement; āChildrenās National Hospital is committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment for all and to serving our LGBTQ+ patients and families in the full spectrum of their care.ā
Threats and harassing calls and email messages were directed at Boston Childrenās Hospital earlier this month over what the hospital says were similar false claims on social media that it was performing hysterectomies on transgender youth under the age of 18.
Libs of TikTok, which has often promotedĀ āgroomerā discourseĀ that falsely linked LGBTQ teachers and parents to pedophilia, began to make a variety of false claims regarding Boston Childrenās Hospital. One allegation included the lie about the hospital offering gender-affirming hysterectomies to children under 18 years old.
Journalist Martha Bebinger with WBUR,āÆ Bostonās NPR news station, noted the campaign started last week with criticism of a video posted on the hospitalās website about hysterectomies. Several conservative social media accounts shared posts about the video on Twitter. The hospital performs hysterectomies on patients 18 and older, but not on children as some of the posts claimed.
āWe condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms, and we reject the false narratives upon which they are based,ā Boston Childrenās Hospital said in a statement. āWe are working with law enforcement to protect our clinicians, staff, patients, families and the broader Boston Childrenās Hospital community and hold the offenders accountable,ā the statement added.
For more than two years, a Brooklyn real estate agent and fanatical adherent of far-right extremist ideology, Chaya Raichik,Ā has wreaked havoc via her social media accounts āLibs of Tik Tokā, attacking LGBTQ+ people with special emphasis on spreading lies and propaganda about transgender people.
When RaichikĀ attacked Boston Childrenās Hospital, spreading lies and falsehoods about the healthcare facilityās treatment of trans youth. Her ācall to armsā was then joined by conservative journalist andĀ anti-LGBTQ activist Christopher Rufo and the Daily Wireās Matt Walsh, a vehement anti-Trans pundit.
The resulting chaos including death threats against Boston Childrenās Hospital clinicians and staffĀ was acknowledged by a spokesperson for the Boston Police Department who told the Blade that officials had stepped up security to augment the efforts by the hospital to protect its staff and that an investigation had been launched.
The U.S. Justice Department has also launched an investigation into the threatsĀ according to an announcementĀ by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Rachael Rollins.
In a lengthy statement issued by GLAAD, the organization wrote:
āLibs of TikTok is synonymous with maliciously targeting LGBTQ organizations, people, and allies by posting lies, misinformation, and blatant hate,ā said a GLAAD spokesperson. āMeta and Twitter continue to profit from accounts like Libs of TikTok as doctors and staff members of Boston Childrenās Hospital, and other providers of healthcare to transgender people, receive death threats and hate. These companies are complicit in hosting content which expresses malicious falsehoods and which incite anti-LGBTQ hate. This is the latest in a long pattern of blatant inaction from the platforms to content that directly leads to the recent rise in real world violence and harassment facing LGBTQ people.ā
District of Columbia
Fire by arson forced temporary shutdown of Glorious Health Club
Spa and art gallery catering to gay
men expects to reopen in August
In a little noticed development, D.C.ās Glorious Health Club, which bills itself as a spa, art gallery, and community center catering to gay men, was forced to close on May 19 after one or more unidentified suspects ignited a fire inside the club that D.C. fire department officials have ruled an act of arson.
Robert Siegel, the clubās owner, told the Washington Blade that he and investigators with the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department believe one or more yet unidentified suspects broke into the kitchen of the former warehouse building where the club is located at 2120 West Virginia Ave., N.E.
According to Siegel, investigators with the fire departmentās arson squad believe a flammable liquid was used to start the fire in the kitchen and in two other locations within the building.
āThree separate fires were started,ā Siegel said. āThey started one on a staircase and one on the upstairs storage area,ā he said in addition to the one in the kitchen. He said about 40 patrons were in the club at the time the fire started, and all were able to leave without injury.
Siegel said the fire caused $500,000 worth of damage to his building, with some of the damage caused ā understandably he said ā by fire fighters who had to rip open doors and break through the roof to gain access to the flames that engulfed parts of the interior of the building. He said he arranged for repair work to begin after the fire was extinguished.
āI expect weāll be reopening in about a month from now,ā he said. āAnd weāll be a bigger and better place.ā
Fortunately, Siegel said, most of the artwork and art exhibits located in the club were not damaged.
āIt was basically the kitchen, patio, and the roof,ā he said, adding that much of the solar panels he had on the roof were destroyed by the fire or by firefighters seeking to gain access to the building.
āAnd the fire was so hot it did structural damage to the roof,ā he said. āIt actually melted steel. Weāre talking about 50-foot steel beams that have to be replaced,ā he told the Blade. āThatās $100,000 right there.āĀ
Vito Maggiolo, a spokesperson for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, said the fire was āruled incendiary/arsonā and isĀ āunder active investigation.āĀ
It could not immediately be determined if one or more people responsible for the fire targeted the Glorious Health Club because itās a gay community establishment.
District of Columbia
D.C. events to commemorate International Transgender Day of Visibility
Monica Beverly-Hillz to attend Blossom Gala at Hook Hall
Trans USA National Pageantry and the National Center for Transgender Equality will hold a series of events in D.C. on Sunday in commemoration of the International Transgender Day of Visibility.
The TRANSform the Vote rally will take place on the National Mall.
Organized by the Queer Equity Institute and NCTE, the event aims to celebrate trans liberation, combat violence and promote civic engagement. Elected officials, activists and artists are expected to participate.
Queer Equity Institute Executive Director Leigh Finke and NCTE Executive Director Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen discussed the rally and how it will empower the trans community and promote advocacy.
āFrom restricting access to medically necessary healthcare to denying trans students the opportunity to participate in sports, we have seen nationwide efforts to exclude trans people from society,ā said Heng-Lehtinen. āTRANSform the Vote presents a historical moment for us to empower our community ā casting our votes and participating in democracy is just one of many ways our community can advocate for the issues that matter to us.ā
Finke, Minnesotaās first openly trans lawmaker who wrote the stateās groundbreaking trans refuge bill, echoed Heng-Lehtinen.
“Over the past few years, weāve watched again and again as ‘jokes’ became hate speech, hate speech became bills, bills became laws; and all the jokes, hate speech and laws created an environment where transgender people are assaulted, beaten and murdered,” said Finke. “Some of the most important tools we have to fight back against these attacks is to change the culture through voting, running for office and creating art and music that shift society. This rally is meant to highlight and encourage folks to use those tools in their communities.”
Confirmed speakers and participants aside from Finke and Heng-Lehtinen include:
- Minnesota state Rep. Alicia āLiishā Kozlowski, who is one of the countryās foremost activists for Indigenous trans and two-spirit people.
- Minneapolis City Council President Andrea Jenkins.
- Angelica Ross, a Buddhist artist and human rights activist.
- Visual artist Cassils
The first annual Blossom Gala will take place at Hook Hall (3400 Georgia Ave., N.W.) and will feature keynote speakers, a Q&A panel discussion featuring national leaders in the trans rights movement and drag performances. Cherry Bomb, which will cap off the event, is an all-trans drag showcase.
Mr. Trans USA 2020 Eddie Broadway; Miss Trans USA 2020 Bianca Nicole and Candi Stratton, a world-renowned Cher illusionist, are among those who are expected to perform. Other participants will include Miss Trans USA 2023 Anya Marino, Mr. Trans USA 2023 Trey C. Michaels and NCTE National Organizer Sybastian Smith.
Monica Beverly-Hillz from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” will also participate.
District of Columbia
Judy and Dennis Shepard discuss Nex Benedict, anti-LGBTQ laws at DC event
Nonbinary Okla. high school student died last month after fight
Judy and Dennis Shepard on Thursday reflected on Nex Benedict’s death and the proliferation of anti-LGBTQ laws across the country during a discussion the Raben Group hosted at their D.C. office.
The discussion, which MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart moderated, took place less than a month after Benedict died.
Benedict, who was nonbinary, passed away on Feb. 8 after students at their high school in Owasso, Okla., assaulted them in a bathroom.
Vice President Kamala Harris, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Republican Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt are among those who have publicly responded to Benedict’s death, which took place after they endured months of bullying. More than 300 advocacy groups have demanded Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’ removal and called for a federal investigation into the Oklahoma Department of Education’s “actions and policies” that have facilitated a āculture where rampant harassment of 2SLGBTQI+ students has been allowed to go unchecked.ā
“Parents are doing whatever they can to protect and encourage and support kids, and you have these what I call evil, evil people around the country pushing these laws,” said Dennis Shepard.
He noted lawmakers around the country are pushing anti-LGBTQ laws and other efforts that include the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Dennis Shepard also highlighted an effort to defund gender studies programs at the University of Wyoming.
“[It is] the old white male, Christian geezers who want to go back to the days of the 50s when they had that superior arrogant attitude,” he said. “They’re losing it and they don’t want to, so they’re passing everything they can.”
“What happened to Nex is a result of that,” added Dennis Shepard. “They feel like Henderson and McKinney felt when they took Matt out on the prairie.”
Matthew Shepard died on Oct. 12, 1998, after Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney brutally beat him and left him tied to a fence in Laramie, Wyo. Then-President Barack Obama in 2009 signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which added sexual orientation and gender identity to the federal hate crimes law.
“If you’re considered different, you’re in fear of your life right now because you don’t fit in and it’s got to stop,” said Dennis Shepard.
Judy Shepard echoed her husband, noting this moment is “the last gasp of the fight against the community.”
“In my heart, I know this is a moment in time, and it’s going to pass. But also in that time, all these young people, everyone in the community is afraid, but young people are being terrorized,” she said. “It just shouldn’t be happening.”
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