DENVER (KDVR) — The ACLU of Colorado says it is suing Children’s Hospital Colorado on behalf of an 18-year-old transgender patient who was denied a gender-affirming surgery.
The lawsuit claims the hospital violated Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws when it stopped providing gender-affirming surgeries in July 2023. The lawsuit was filed in Denver District Court on Wednesday, according to the document.
According to the ACLU, the patient, who is using the pseudonym of Caden Kent for this lawsuit, had just received insurance authorization for a procedure at Children’s Hospital when the hospital adopted its new policy and refused to move forward with the surgery.
The ACLU said gender-affirming surgical care is medically necessary and sometimes life-saving for transgender people.
“CHCO’s abrupt cancellation of all gender-affirming surgeries for its trans patients was devastating to Caden, other impacted patients, and Colorado’s transgender community,” Tim Macdonald, ACLU of Colorado legal director, said in the lawsuit announcement. “Refusal to provide medically necessary care based on the identity of the person seeking it, and the condition for which they are seeking it, is discriminatory and illegal under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act.”
According to the hospital, it has not been served with any litigation from the ACLU of Colorado.
Children’s Hospital Colorado stops gender-affirming surgeries
On July 19, 2023, a Children’s Hospital Colorado spokesperson told FOX31 the hospital had been receiving “unprecedented referrals for gender-affirming care,” and to maintain a certain level of care for pediatric patients, they were discontinuing surgical gender-affirming procedures for patients over 18 years old.
“Our team is now working with impacted adult patients to explore referrals to the many other hospitals in the region that provide this care for adults,” the hospital statement said in July 2023. “We have not performed gender-affirming surgeries for patients under 18 years of age.”
In the lawsuit text, the ACLU argues that Kent was told by Children’s Hospital Colorado doctors in May 2023 that he was a good candidate for chest masculinization surgery and received a letter of support from his primary care doctor.
Kent had previously explained his struggles with gender identity and expression to his doctors and was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in early 2022, according to the lawsuit.
On June 2, 2023, a surgical physician’s assistant at Children’s Hospital Colorado confirmed that the hospital had received the required letters and submitted the request for insurance pre-authorization, the lawsuit says.
That insurance authorization was received by Kent’s family on July 13, 2023 — the same day the hospital changed its policy, according to the complaint.
A day later, Kent’s father messaged the physician assistant to report the authorization, according to the complaint. The physician’s assistant received the preauthorization and immediately called the family to explain the new policy and said they could not schedule the procedure.
According to the complaint, the physician’s assistant said although Kent was an established patient in the practice, the practice’s pediatric surgeons were now prohibited from completing his surgery.
“The physician’s assistant expressed regret that they ‘unfortunately ha[d] not been given any further information to answer critical questions regarding any reasoning behind this executive decision,’” the complaint stated.
Discrimination claimed in hospital’s gender-affirming surgery policy
After 20 months of treatment for gender dysphoria and eight months of consultation for top surgery, the news of his denial “crushed” Kent and his family, the complaint stated.
The lawsuit is seeking:
- An order finding that Children’s Hospital Colorado discriminated against Kent based on his sex, gender identity, gender expression and disability
- An injunction and order requiring CHCO’s compliance with the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act
- A $3,500 award based on disability discrimination
- A $500 award based on gender identity
- A $500 award based on sex
- A $500 award based on gender expression
According to the complaint, Kent and his family have “made every effort” to establish care with another provider to get surgery, re-establish insurance authorization, and schedule it at a time Kent could recover at home before leaving for college.
Kent’s family was unable to do this and will now have to pay for the surgery out of pocket to complete post-operation recovery before leaving for college this fall, the lawsuit stated.
