Earlier this month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom made headlines when he was asked point-blank in an interview if he supported sex change surgeries for children.
Newsom did not answer the question.
“It’s over the last few years…I’m trying to understand as much as anyone else. The whole pronoun thing, trying to understand all of that…that was..the hell..I get it. All this stuff started to collapse on us,” Newsom said, explaining that the “trans issue” is “novel” for him.
Q: Is 8-years-old too young for a sex change?”
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 15, 2025
NEWSOM: “Now that I have a 9-year-old, come on man, I get it.”pic.twitter.com/VdgPF5eMVV
This week, medical provider Kaiser Pemanente, which is headquartered in California, announced that they would “pause” so-called “gender-affirming surgeries” for children.
This decision was made over “significant risks” that they could face from President Donald Trump’s administration for providing these egregious surgeries for kids.
Recommended
The surgical transgender care will officially halt for patients under 19 on Aug. 29.
President Trump has been committed to stopping this kind of care for children (via SFGate):
In January, Trump issued an executive order titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation” which directed federal agencies to roll back funding, coverage and legal protections for gender-affirming care for people under 19. It enables the Health and Human Services Department, Defense Department, Justice Department and other agencies to take actions limiting coverage, investigating providers, and potentially penalizing states that support such care.
In the months since, several hospitals across the country — including Stanford Medicine — have bent to federal pressure. On June 2, Stanford quietly halted gender-affirming surgeries for patients under 19, with a spokesperson telling SFGATE that the institution felt the need “to protect” patients and providers in light of federal actions.
In a statement to SFGate, Kaiser claimed this was a “difficult decision.”
“Since January, there has been significant focus by the federal government on gender-affirming care, specifically for patients under the age of 19,” the statement said. “Most recently, the U.S. Department of Justice issued subpoenas to doctors and clinics providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth, as part of ongoing federal investigations.”
Reportedly, the country’s largest nursing union slammed Kaiser Permanente for this decision, claiming that they were “pre-emptively giving into government overreach.”
Kaiser Permanente provided de-transitioner Chloe Cole with irreversible transgender surgery when she was 16. Predictably, Cole grew up and regretted her decision.
The Center for American Liberty has highlighted how Cole was “fraudulently coerced” into a medical gender transition when she was 13-17 years old by professionals at Kaiser Permanente.
