The Brief

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles — one of the country’s oldest and largest providers of gender-affirming care for children and young adults — has announced that it will close its Center for Transyouth Health and Development on July 22.

In a letter sent to hospital staff today, the hospital cited “external pressure” — specifically attempts from the Trump administration to block gender-affirming care for youth — in its decision.

Trump began issuing executive orders that aimed to curtail this health care soon after taking office in January.

Why is CHLA making this move?

In its letter to staff, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles acknowledged that it was making this move before many of its peers, which are continuing to offer gender-affirming care.

Hospital leadership called the decision a “painful and difficult decision” and said they had no choice but to comply with the federal government, which has sought to target providers of gender-affirming care.

“Over the past several months, California’s deepening budget crisis, President Trump’s executive orders, proposed federal legislation and rulemaking, and growing economic uncertainty have made the situation even more dire,” the letter reads.

They also said lower Medi-Cal reimbursement rates factored into the hospital’s decision.

The hospital also called its fiscal position “fragile” and said it could only sustain operations for approximately 50 days without federal funding. The hospital said it needed to remain open to serve the “hundreds of thousands of Southern California children, adolescents, and young adults, who are disproportionately low-income and underserved.”

About two-thirds of the hospital’s total inpatient and outpatient revenue came from Medicare and Medi-Cal, totaling $723 million as of 2022.

The hospital said that the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the FBI, and the Federal Trade Commission had all taken positions against health care for trans youth. The positions taken by these agencies go against guidance from many professional medical and pediatric organizations.

Response from local LGBT leaders

After the decision became public, the L.A. LGBT Center issued a statement condemning the move and quickly organized a protest outside the hospital.

“Despite this harrowing news, we are not giving up,” L.A. LGBT Center CEO Joe Hollendoner said in a statement. “We must take action now to demand CHLA keep its gender clinic open to new and current patients in need of gender-affirming care.”

What can current patients do?

In a letter to staff, the hospital said it will help current patients "with patient navigation and seeking to identify potential alternative providers," though it did not specify exactly how. It also said it would explore reassigning employees at its transgender health center to other roles at the hospital "based on needs and available funding."

The hospital also said it chose to shutter the center on July 22 to “give patient families adequate time to plan for moving care to providers less impacted by the legal and financial pressures our health system faces.”

The backstory

In February, amid pressure from the Trump administration regarding gender-affirming care for minors, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles paused the intake of new patients under 19 for gender-affirming surgeries.

At the time, Attorney General Rob Bonta assured Children’s Hospital Los Angeles that it would protect the hospital and other providers of health care for trans youth.

"While the Trump administration attempts to bully and intimidate through its threats to withhold critical federal funding, California remains firm in its commitment to uphold the dignity and rights of all," Bonta said in a statement at the time.

After severe blowback from local health care providers, including weekly protests outside the hospital, the hospital reversed course and once again began offering its full suite of services to all patients.

Guidance from the medical community 

The American Academy of Pediatrics has supported gender-affirming care for minors since 2018 and opposes “any laws or regulations that discriminate against transgender and gender-diverse individuals, or that interfere in the doctor-patient relationship.”

The American Medical Association, the Endocrine Society and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, among others, have also taken similar positions supporting gender-affirming care for adolescents.

Sublime frontman Jakob Nowell recently studied the artifacts of the Grammy Museum's newest exhibit Sublime: Straight From Long Beach.

He wasn't even a year old when his father — the band's founder Bradley Nowell — died from a heroin overdose in 1996.

"It's been a really interesting process getting to know someone posthumously through their work and something that's so emotionally entangled in all of my machinery," Nowell said. " There's just DNA splattered all over everything in this exhibit."

The exhibit opened this week at the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles. It features photos of the band, along with instruments used by the original members, song lyrics, promotional materials and other items.

This summer, Sublime's third, self-titled album celebrates its 30th anniversary. It spawned hits like, "What I Got," and "Santeria" and sold more than nine million copies, redefining Alternative radio with a blend of punk rock, reggae, ska and hip-hop.

Jakob Nowell stepped into his father's role in the band in 2023, a move he said has reconnected him to his family.

"Sometimes our work lives and our careers break us down and rip us apart from the people who matter most," Nowell said. "Getting to be a part of my father's work and my uncle's work, it really has brought together a lot of people in my life that are the most important."

Although the Grammy Museum is celebrating Sublime's past, Nowell and the band are also looking toward the future. The band is releasing a new album Until the Sun Explodes on June 12, and the title track is out now.

It's Nowell's tribute to his late father with lyrics like, "I only hope that you know I owe you my life."

"It's something I've been trying to say for 30 years," he said. "It only came out correctly now. It feels really special to get to share it with people out there. They've been sharing with me their stories my entire life."

At 30, Nowell is two years older now than when his father died at 28, but he has an outlook on their relationship that belongs to someone much older and wiser.

"The permanence of death is an illusion," Nowell said. "It's only temporary and [there's] no more evidence than everything around us here and all of the love and good times.

"It happens at the shows we play," he added. "It's evident to me every single day."

The exhibit is scheduled to run through Sept. 7.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has agreed to pay $1.9 million to settle a lawsuit filed by 13 women who say correctional officers injured them during a mass use-of-force incident at the Central California Women’s Facility in 2024.

The plaintiffs say they suffered seizures, respiratory distress and long-term vision problems after officers used batons, physical force and chemical agents on them.

“I couldn’t breathe. My lungs were on fire … I thought I was going to die,” plaintiff Wisdom Muhammad said in a recent interview at her home in Los Angeles.

The women received settlements ranging from $200,000 to $50,000 each, based on the severity of their injuries, according to their attorney Robert Chalfant.

“Sexual abuse of inmates, excessive force, cruel and unusual punishment, retaliation, those things need to stop,” Chalfant said. “And the only way those things stop is through lawsuits and forcing the payment of large amounts of money so that people take notice of what’s happening.”

In an email, CDCR spokesperson Mary Xjimenez said the agency has reviewed the incident and has taken corrective action.

More than 41 staff members were found to have violated policy, making it one of the largest disciplinary actions issued against CDCR staff in a single incident, according to CDCR. Punishment ranged from transfers to termination, CDCR said, but the department has not yet responded to a public records request for disciplinary documents related to the incident.

Incarcerated people stand together in a yard at Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, Madera County.

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Lea Suzuki

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The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

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The Aug. 2, 2024, incident began when officers removed more than 150 women from their cells and locked them in the dining hall while staff conducted a large-scale search of their cells. As temperatures in the Chowchilla facility climbed to more than 100 degrees and time wore on, the women began to ask for water, food and medication.

Prison officials have said that the incarcerated population “became disruptive.” Officers used physical force, batons and chemical agents to “stop the incident,” according to a review from the Office of the Inspector General.

The complaint claims the women were complying with the officers’ orders and that the force was excessive and unnecessary. It also alleges that some women were denied or delayed medical care after being injured, leaving them with lasting physical and psychological harm.

A total of 109 incarcerated persons were medically evaluated, CDCR said, and three were transported to an outside medical facility for a short time. In the wake of the incident, CDCR also said it made mental health staff and resources available to those affected.

Staff were also retrained after the incident on how to respond to alarms and on the appropriate use of force, according to CDCR.

The women involved in the suit have a broader claim about this incident as well, that it was retaliation for sexual assault complaints that they had filed against correctional staff.

The women’s prison in Chowchilla has been plagued by reports of sexual assault for years. In one high-profile case, at least 22 women accused correctional officer Gregory Rodriguez of sexual abuse dating back to 2014. The state ultimately paid millions of dollars to settle those claims. Rodriguez was criminally charged and sentenced to 224 years in prison.

Last year, an audit by the Office of Inspector General found that at least 279 women had sued the department, accusing at least 83 prison employees of sexual misconduct. The audit describes “a wave” of lawsuits filed by currently and formerly incarcerated people alleging staff sexual assault, harassment and misconduct. In response to the lawsuits, the department approved 402 investigations.

The U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating allegations of sexual abuse and staff misconduct at California women’s prisons.

The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a civil rights investigation into staff sexual abuse allegations at two women’s prisons in Chowchilla and Chino, following a series of lawsuits and similar abuses at federal facilities like FCI Dublin, which was closed due to widespread misconduct.

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J. David Ake

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Getty Images

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In the settlement reached this past week, CDCR did not agree to any policy changes or other non-monetary terms, and did not admit to wrongdoing.

“The Department’s focus remains on the safety, security, and well-being of both the incarcerated population and staff,” Xjimenez said.

Another class action lawsuit tied to the Aug. 2 incident is still pending. That case, known as Hooper v. State of California, raises similar claims that medical care was delayed or denied and that the use of force was excessive and retaliatory. It is set to go to mediation in May, according to court filings.

CDCR said it could not comment on pending litigation.

Chalfant said that many of his clients were scared to come forward. The incarcerated woman told him that correctional officers continued to reference the lawsuit and retaliate against them by writing them up for minor infractions and searching their belongings up to the day of the settlement.

“If individuals’ rights are violated in state prisons, lawyers are going to take those cases,” Chalfant said. “[These women] don’t lose their constitutional rights when [they] go into a prison facility.”