Write an article about Protesters rally against closure of largest gender-affirming care center .Organize the content with appropriate headings and subheadings (h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6) and made content unique, Retain any existing tags from <\/p>\n
By ANNA FURMAN<\/strong><\/p>\n LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Growing up, Sage Sol Pitchenik wanted to hide.<\/p>\n \u201cI hated my body,\u201d the nonbinary 16-year-old said. \u201cI hated looking at it.\u201d<\/p>\n When therapy didn\u2019t help, Pitchenik, who uses the pronoun they, started going to the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles, the country\u2019s biggest public provider of gender-affirming care for children and teens. It changed their life.<\/p>\n But in response to the Trump administration\u2019s threat to cut federal funds to places that offer gender-affirming care to minors, the center will be closing its doors July 22. Pitchenik has been among the scores of protesters who have demonstrated regularly outside the hospital to keep it open.<\/p>\n \u201cTrans kids are done being quiet. Trans kids are done being polite, and trans kids are done begging for the bare minimum, begging for the chance to grow up, to have a future, to be loved by others when sometimes we can\u2019t even love ourselves,\u201d Pitchenik said, prompting cheers from dozens of protesters during a recent demonstration.<\/p>\n They went to the center for six years.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of bigotry and just hate all around, and having somebody who is trained specifically to speak with you, because there\u2019s not a lot of people that know what it\u2019s like, it meant the world,\u201d they told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n Protesters hold signs while demonstrating against the closure of the trans youth clinic at Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Lindsey Nelson, center left, and her son, Max Deiner, take part in a protest against the closure of the trans youth clinic at Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Protesters demonstrate against the planned closure of the trans youth clinic at Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Jack Brenner, left, an emergency room nurse at Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles, shows a lanyard decorated with pronoun pins and buttons during a protest against the closure of the hospital\u2019s trans youth clinic Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Sage Sol Pitchenik stands for a photo in Santa Clarita, Calif., Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Maria Do, community mobilization manager at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, stands for a photo outside Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles before a protest against the closure of the hospital\u2019s trans youth clinic Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Jack Brenner, left, an emergency room nurse at Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles, pauses for photos during a protest against the closure of the hospital\u2019s trans youth clinic Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Sage Sol Pitchenik stands for a photo in Santa Clarita, Calif., Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Protesters carry a large banner while demonstrating against the closure of the trans youth clinic at Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Protesters gather outside Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Los Angeles, to demonstrate against the closure of the hospital\u2019s trans youth clinic. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles, the country\u2019s biggest public provider of gender-affirming care for children and teens, is seen in Los Angeles, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Show Caption<\/p>\n 1<\/span> of 11<\/span><\/p>\n Protesters hold signs while demonstrating against the closure of the trans youth clinic at Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)\n<\/p>\n Expand<\/span><\/p>\n In operation for three decades, the facility is among the longest-running trans youth centers in the country and has served thousands of young people on public insurance.<\/p>\n Patients who haven\u2019t gone through puberty yet receive counseling, which continues throughout the care process. For some patients, the next step is puberty blockers; for others, it\u2019s also hormone replacement therapy. Surgeries are rarely offered to minors.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m one of the lucky ones,\u201d said Pitchenik, who received hormone blockers after a lengthy process. \u201cI learned how to not only survive but how to thrive in my own body because of the lifesaving health care provided to me right here at Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n Many families are now scrambling to find care among a patchwork of private and public providers that are already stretched thin. It\u2019s not just patient care, but research development that\u2019s ending.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a disappointment to see this abrupt closure disrupting the care that trans youth receive. But it\u2019s also a stain on their legacy,\u201d said Maria Do, community mobilization manager at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. \u201cI think it showcases that they\u2019re quick to abandon our most vulnerable members.\u201d<\/p>\n The closure comes weeks after the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee\u2019s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, amid other efforts by the federal government to regulate the lives of transgender people.<\/p>\n The hospital initially backed off its plans to close after it announced them in February, spurring demonstrations, but later doubled back.<\/p>\n The center said in a statement that \u201cdespite this deeply held commitment to supporting LA\u2019s gender-diverse community, the hospital has been left with no viable path forward\u201d to stay open.<\/p>\n \u201cCenter team members were heartbroken to learn of the decision from hospital leaders, who emphasized that it was not made lightly, but followed a thorough legal and financial assessment of the increasingly severe impacts of recent administrative actions and proposed policies,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n California Attorney General Rob Bonta has warned that by closing the center, the hospital is violating state antidiscrimination laws, but his office hasn\u2019t taken any further actions. Bonta and attorney generals from 22 other states sued the Trump administration over the executive order in February.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump administration\u2019s relentless assault on transgender adolescents is nothing short of an all-out war to strip away LGBTQ+ rights,\u201d Bonta told the AP in an email. \u201cThe Administration\u2019s harmful attacks are hurting California\u2019s transgender community by seeking to scare doctors and hospitals from providing nondiscriminatory healthcare. The bottom line is: This care remains legal in California.\u201d<\/p>\n Still wearing scrubs, Jack Brenner, joined protesters after a long shift as a nurse in the hospital\u2019s emergency room, addressing the crowd with a megaphone while choking back tears.<\/p>\n \u201cOur visibility is so important for our youth,\u201d Brenner said, looking out at a cluster of protesters raising signs and waving trans pride flags. \u201cTo see that there is a future, and that there is a way to grow up and to be your authentic self.\u201d<\/p>\n Brenner, who uses the pronoun they, didn\u2019t see people who looked like them growing up or come to understand what being trans meant until their mid-20s.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something I definitely didn\u2019t have a language for when I was a kid, and I didn\u2019t know what the source of my pain and suffering was, and now looking back, so many things are sliding into place,\u201d Brenner said. \u201cI\u2019m realizing how much gender dysphoria was a source of my pain.\u201d<\/p>\n Trans children and teens are at increased risk of death by suicide, according to a 2024 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n Brenner described encountering young patients in the emergency room who are trans or otherwise on the gender-nonconforming spectrum and \u201cat the peak of a mental health crisis.\u201d Brenner wears a lanyard teeming with colorful pins emblazoned with the words \u201cthey\/them\u201d to signal their gender identity.<\/p>\n \u201cI see the change in kids\u2019 eyes, little glints of recognition, that I am a trans adult and that there is a future,\u201d Brenner said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen kids light up when they recognize something of themselves in me. And that is so meaningful that I can provide that.\u201d<\/p>\n Beth Hossfeld, a marriage and family therapist, and a grandmother to an 11- and 13-year-old who received care at the center, called the closure \u201cpatient abandonment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a political decision, not a medical one, and that\u2019s disturbing to me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Originally Published: July 9, 2025 at 1:07 PM EDT<\/p>\n and integrate them seamlessly into the new content without adding new Write an article about Protesters rally against closure of largest gender-affirming care center .Organize the content with appropriate headings and subheadings (h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6) and made content unique, Retain any existing tags from By ANNA FURMAN LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Growing up, Sage Sol Pitchenik wanted to hide. \u201cI hated my body,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":17219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17218","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-wellness"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.sun-sentinel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/California_Transyouth_Center_Closing_10451-1.jpg?w=1400px&strip=all&w=1400&resize=1400,933&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17218"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17220,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17218\/revisions\/17220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
The center\u2019s legacy<\/h4>\n
LGBTQ+ protesters and health care workers offer visibility<\/h4>\n
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