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HomeMOREHEALTHSF Families Rally Against Kaiser's New Restrictions on Gender-Affirming Care

SF Families Rally Against Kaiser’s New Restrictions on Gender-Affirming Care


Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente, which serves more than 12 million people across eight states, called the decision to pause treatment a “difficult” one, citing “the significant risks being created for health systems, clinicians, and patients” in the evolving legal and regulatory environment.

The Trump administration has aggressively targeted gender-related health care for trans youth, beginning with a series of executive orders instructing federal agencies to restrict access to care and funding. Most recently, the U.S. Department of Justice issued more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics providing gender-affirming care to minors.

While other states have passed laws limiting such care, California has doubled down on protecting medical services for youth. And in February, California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned hospitals that denying or pausing care for trans youth based on political pressure could violate state law.

“I understand that the President’s executive order on gender affirming care has created some confusion,” Bonta said in a statement. “Let me be clear: California law has not changed, and hospitals and clinics have a legal obligation to provide equal access to healthcare services.”

But Kaiser is not the only health care provider in the state to have caved to Trump’s pressure in recent weeks. Palo Alto-based Stanford Medicine scaled back gender-related surgical procedures for minors last month. And this week, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles closed its Center for Transyouth Health and Development, which had been a leader in gender-affirming care for the last 30 years.

Democratic State Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, who authored a 2022 law to make California a safe refuge for transgender youth seeking medical care, also attended the protest and called Kaiser’s decision illegal under state law.

A counter protester, center, confronts a protester during a rally and vigil honoring transgender patients affected by Kaiser’s decision to halt gender-affirming care to minors, outside of Kaiser Permanente on July 25, 2025. (Gina Castro/KQED)

In an interview, he acknowledged the challenges facing companies caught in between the needs of patients and the Trump administration’s pressure.

“It’s important for us not to just cave in to Donald Trump’s bullying. It’s hard and it’s scary, but this is how fascists succeed, when institutions start backing down and caving in and doing whatever the regime wants,” Wiener said.

A small group of counter-protesters stood mostly on the outskirts of the crowd, holding signs reading “No child can consent to be sterilized” and “No more profiting off of confused children.”

At certain points during the rally, counter-protesters interjected to shout down rally speakers, yelling, “Stop sterilizing children.” Tensions briefly escalated between the two sides when counter-protesters tried to move closer to the center of the rally, and advocates quickly moved to block them with their bodies. A brief shoving match ensued, and then quickly fizzled out.



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