Boston Children’s Hospital has faced a torrent of threats and harassment from an online campaign aimed at doctors and staff caring for transgender children.
The hospital has received a high volume of hostile internet activity, phone calls, and harassing emails, including threats of violence against its clinicians and staff, representatives for the facility said in a statement.
The threats prompted the hospital to contact law enforcement and remove doctors’ images from its website. “We are deeply concerned by these attacks on our clinicians and staff fueled by misinformation and a lack of understanding and respect for our transgender community,” the statement said.
Young adults and children receive gender-affirming treatment through the hospital’s Gender Multispecialty Service Program. “Among the far right, there has been a rise in misinformation about gender-affirming care, which falsely accuses caregivers of mutilating children,” reports The Advocate. “Despite online allegations, children under 18 cannot undergo genital surgery at Boston Children’s.