President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice is pledging to confront “hate crimes” allegedly lodged against Boston Children’s Hospital following backlash over its transgender surgery center, which brags of offering a “full suite of surgical options for transgender teens and young adults.”

Boston Children’s Hospital emerged to the national spotlight this week following reports detailing its Center for Gender Surgery, which “offers gender affirmation surgery services to eligible adolescents and young adults who are ready to take this step in their journey,” according to the website. However, a YouTube video featuring attending physician Frances Grimstad, MD, MS, Division of Gynecology, also caught the attention of many, as she went into detail explaining the process of a “gender-affirming” hysterectomy.

“A gender-affirming hysterectomy is very similar to most hysterectomies that occur. Hysterectomy itself is the removal of the uterus, the cervix — which is the opening of the uterus — and the fallopian tubes, which are attached to the sides of the uterus,” Grimstad said in the video has since been removed.

Further, the website states that it offers “full suite of surgical options for transgender teens and young adults,” including chest reconstructions, breast augmentations, facial harmonizations, vaginoplasties, metoidioplasties, phalloplasties, “and other gender affirmation surgeries to eligible patients.” While a previous version of the hospital’s eligibility webpage stated that an individual had to be “at least 17 years old for vaginoplasty,” the center’s main page now states in bold that “all genital surgeries are only performed on patients age 18 and older.” That was not present on the main page at the time of Breitbart News’s original report. At the time, Breitbart News asked the hospital how justifies offering such controversial services to adolescents given the fact that the science is not settled, and the outlet also asked how many surgeries have been completed in the last year but received no response.

Rather, instead of answering inquiries, hospital opted to update its website and play victim, as establishment media outlets detailed the criticisms and “attacks” on clinicians and staff, which the hospital claims are fueled by “misinformation and a lack of understanding and respect for our transgender community.”

Now, Biden’s Department of Justice is jumping into the fray, advancing the hospital’s narrative while wholly ignoring the questions posed by critics, who are concerned about the “gender-affirming” treatments offered to children. For example, the hospital currently makes it clear that it will perform chest surgery on a minor as young as 15 years old, as long as they meet other eligibility requirements. Those include:

  • A letter from a medical doctor or nurse practitioner stating that you have “persistent, well documented, gender dysphoria” and specifying either the length of hormone therapy or why you are not taking hormone therapy.
  • A letter from a mental health provider stating that you have the capacity to consent and that any significant mental health issues are being addressed.

“Today’s news about the alleged threats directed at Boston Children’s Hospital transgender health program is disturbing to say the least,” a statement from DOJ’s U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts, reads:

The statement does not address the legitimate concerns over procedures designed to supposedly “affirm” a child’s gender. Rather, it seems to ignore the role of parents guiding their children, stating that minors should be able to grow as “their own authentic selves” — a theme embraced by the Biden administration.

“Children deserve an opportunity to thrive and grow as their own authentic selves. Parents/guardians and health care providers who support them in that journey should be allowed to do so free of threats and harassment,” the statement reads, essentially comparing criticisms to hate crimes:

I want to make it clear that the Department of Justice will ensure equal protection of transgender people under the law. As Attorney General Merrick Garland recently said, “At the Justice Department, we view confronting hate crimes as both our legal and our moral obligation.” I have made confronting hate crimes a priority of my administration, establishing a unit dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of civil rights violations. We also have worked tirelessly to send a message to hate groups that the U.S. Attorney’s Office is open for business. Our newly established hotline, 1-83-END-H8-NOW has resulted in dozens of calls and we will continue to pursue all leads. While free speech is indeed the cornerstone of our great nation, fear, intimidation and threats are not. I will not sit idly by and allow hate-based criminal activity to continue in our District.

It remains unclear how far the DOJ will go in pursuing the punishment of critics who openly stand against grooming children.