Boston Children's Hospital became the latest target of an online harassment campaign from the far-right this week, which was based on false claims around care of transgender youth, the hospital confirmed.
Employees at Boston Children's received an email from hospital officials earlier this week, citing an increase in "threatening and aggressive" phone calls, emails, and online attacks to the facility following the circulation of false claims online, which stated that the hospital provides hysterectomies to young girls, .
The misinformation originated from the Twitter user @LibsofTikTok, a right-leaning account with more than 1 million followers.
"In response to commentary last week critical of our Gender Multispecialty Service Program, Boston Children's Hospital has been the target of a large volume of hostile internet activity, phone calls, and harassing emails including threats of violence toward our clinicians and staff," the hospital said in a statement shared with 番茄社区. "We are deeply concerned by these attacks fueled by misinformation and a lack of understanding and respect for our transgender community."
"Boston Children's is proud to be home to the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program in the United States," the statement noted.
The Department of Justice spoke out in support of Boston Children's following the news of these threats, stating that it will "ensure equal protection of transgender people under the law." The agency added that it is pursuing all leads against the individuals behind these attacks.
"While free speech is indeed the cornerstone of our great nation, fear, intimidation and threats are not," said Rachael Rollins, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, in a . "I will not sit idly by and allow hate-based criminal activity to continue in our District."
On August 11, @LibsofTikTok tweeted a video produced by Boston Children's, which portrayed a physician explaining gender-affirming hysterectomy. "Boston Children's Hospital is now offering 'gender affirming hysterectomies' for young girls," read the tweet, which went viral, garnering attention from conservative officials and pundits.
"This is monstrous," Stephen Miller, who served as an advisor to former President Trump, wrote in a reply. "How does anyone involved in this still have a medical license?"
However, Boston Children's has made clear that it does not provide genital surgeries to minors as part of gender-affirming care. Genital surgery, including phalloplasty, metoidioplasty, or vaginoplasty, is only provided to patients over the age of 18, the hospital said.
"For hysterectomies and other genital surgeries performed as part of gender-affirming care, Boston Children's requires a patient to be capable of consenting for themselves," the statement noted. "Age 18 is used to reflect the standard age of majority for medical decision-making."
Other eligibility requirements for genital surgery include a letter from a medical doctor or nurse practitioner, as well as a mental health professional, showing "persistent, well documented, gender dysphoria" and outlining the length of time that a patient has been treated with hormone therapy, of the Center for Gender Surgery at Boston Children's.
Additionally, the health system follows , which does not recommend genital surgery for children as part of gender-affirming care.
"Surgery is never the first step in a gender transition," Boston Children's website states. "It is something that happens after you have already explored social and medical transition options."
@LibsofTikTok also has a history of spreading anti-LGBTQ+ narratives on Twitter, according to a . The user's anti-trans tweets have previously gone viral, with some urging their followers to contact schools that allow "boys in the girls bathrooms." Content from the Twitter account has been used directly by Fox News hosts Jesse Watters and Tucker Carlson, according to the Post.
According to Boston Children's, they are "working with law enforcement to protect our clinicians, staff, patients, families, and the broader Boston Children's community and hold the offenders accountable."
"We condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms, and we reject the false narrative upon which they are based," the statement said.