Opinion: You say ending gender care protects kids. I’m one of those kids—and you’re wrong

Hartford Courant – Thursday, July 31, 2025
By June Carpenter

June Carpenter is an 18-year-old transgender woman from Connecticut.

I read the July 27 opinion piece “Supporting the CT Hospital’s Choice to End Pediatric Gender Care” with a pit in my stomach. The author praised Connecticut hospitals for winding down care for trans youth, calling it a courageous act of protection. But as an 18-year-old transgender woman who lost care, I can tell you: this is not courageous. It’s dangerous.

I came out at 14, after years of struggling with anxiety and depression I didn’t have words for. When I finally told my parents I was trans, they were scared—but supportive. With the guidance of our doctor, I was referred to a gender-affirming care program that gave me what every teenager deserves: a chance to feel like myself, and to build a future.

That care wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t political. It was thoughtful, compassionate, and evidence-based. And it quite literally saved my life.

The decision to dismantle pediatric gender care in Connecticut doesn’t protect trans youth—it isolates us. It tells us that our identities are too controversial to treat, and that our existence is something the state can quietly turn away from. And when adults cheer that on in print, it sends a brutal message: that we don’t matter.

Gender-affirming care didn’t make me trans. It helped me survive being trans in a world that often treats us like a problem to be solved.

I’m lucky. I am close to 19, when I can still access my medications—for now. But the 14-year-old version of me? She wouldn’t have made it in this political climate. Not with appointments canceled. Not with doctors forced to abandon patients. Not with strangers debating whether she deserved to grow up.

The author of the op-ed claims this is about “letting kids grow up.” But kids like me can’t grow up if we’re denied the care that makes growing up possible. Puberty blockers and hormone therapy are not radical. They’re widely supported by every major medical association and provided with careful, informed consent. What’s radical is denying that care based on politics or pressure from outside the state.

To those who claim to care about children, I ask this: are you listening to us?

Listen to the Connecticut teenagers who are watching the floor fall out from under them. Listen to the families being forced to search out-of-state for care that used to be accessible here at home. Listen to the young people who are saying, over and over again, that gender-affirming care is not a threat to our lives—it’s what keeps us alive.

I am proud of who I am. I am proud of the journey I’ve taken to get here. But no child should have to fight this hard to be seen. If you truly care about protecting youth, fight for a state where transgender kids can feel safe, affirmed, and supported—not pushed aside in the name of someone else’s fear.

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