An LGBT rights attorney has been charged in a federal indictment with lying during a judicial inquiry into whether he and others engaged in &#8220;judge shopping&#8221; in order to challenge Alabama&#8217;s ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth.
Carl Charles, an attorney at Lambda Legal, was charged in an indictment unsealed on Monday in federal court in Montgomery, Alabama, months after a judge took the rare step of sanctioning him and referring him for a criminal investigation.
It marks a rare instance of charges being brought related to a widespread practice among both liberal and conservative litigants to steer cases challenging government policies to ideologically sympathetic judges.
Federal prosecutors secured the indictment amid a broader push by the U.S. Department of Justice under President Donald Trump to investigate providers of medical gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
Charles, who worked in the Justice Department during the tenure of Democratic President Joe Biden, pleaded not guilty on Monday to making a false statement before a court.
Lambda Legal, in a statement, said it stood behind Charles and called the indictment &#8220;an outrageous act of governmental overreach.&#8221; Charles&#8217; lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.
Charles was one of three lawyers sanctioned in February by U.S. District Judge Liles Burke after pursuing legal challenges to Republican-led Alabama&#8217;s ban on the use of puberty-blocking drugs and hormones to treat gender dysphoria in transgender minors.
Burke, a Trump appointee, said the lawyers tried to &#8220;game the system&#8221; by dropping two cases they filed in 2022 when they were assigned to him and then mounting a new legal challenge in a different federal district court in Alabama.
A 2024 report by a three-judge panel that investigated whether the three lawyers engaged in misconduct by attempting to circumvent procedures designed to have cases randomly assigned to a judge found they did so because they viewed Burke as a &#8220;bad draw.&#8221;
The new case was reassigned to Burke, who, despite their concerns, blocked the law&#8217;s enforcement, though an appeals court later reinstated it.
The indictment alleges that during the judicial inquiry, Charles falsely testified that he had not called a judge&#8217;s chambers in April 2022 about the assignment of the lawsuit with which he was involved.
According to Burke&#8217;s ruling, Charles later amended his answers to state he actually called a judge&#8217;s clerk. He apologized for his earlier response.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Matthew Lewis)

Brighton Beach Pride march in Brooklyn, New York City

LGBT Rights Lawyer Indicted For Lying During Alabama ‘Judge Shopping’ Inquiry

Alabama

Children

Donald Trump

LGBT

transgender surgery

In 10 years, The Daily Wire has put up some incredible wins, and over the next few weeks, we’re looking back at 10 of our greatest victories — none of which could have happened without the support of our loyal members and fans. 
One of our biggest victories occurred over the summer as the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling upholding a Tennessee law protecting children from surgical and chemical gender mutilation. The ruling allowed states across the country to keep in place laws protecting children from life-altering transgender procedures. 
The Tennessee law at the center of ruling was inspired by an investigation from Daily Wire host Matt Walsh. In September 2022, Walsh released an investigation revealing that the pediatric transgender clinic at Vanderbilt University Medical Center was removing the breasts of girls who identified as boys and prescribing cross-sex hormones to gender-confused children.
“My team and I have been investigating the transgender clinic at Vanderbilt here in Nashville. Vanderbilt drugs, chemically castrates, and performs double mastectomies on minors,” Walsh <a href="https://x.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1572313369528635392">reported</a> at the time. “They now castrate, sterilize, and mutilate minors as well as adults, while apparently taking steps to hide this activity from the public view. This is what ‘health care’ has become in modern America.”
In the days following the investigation, Walsh met with top Tennessee lawmakers who vowed to introduce legislation to ban transgender procedures on kids and Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tennessee-looking-at-child-gender-transition-legislation-after-vanderbilt-transgender-videos-released">called</a> for an immediate end to the procedures. 
A month after the investigation broke, Walsh led a rally in Nashville attended by top Tennessee Republicans like Senator Marsha Blackburn and others like Tulsi Gabbard calling for an end to child mutilation. 
Walsh later testified before state lawmakers in favor of the Republican-backed bill to ban transgender procedures on kids in Tennessee. 
“We should be able to agree that it is never OK to chemically castrate, sterilize, butcher, or mutilate a child. And in fact, all decent people do agree on this point,” Walsh said during his testimony. “But many of the people who hold power in this country and who run our institutions — including our medical institutions — do not pass this basic test of decency.” 
After Tennessee’s law was passed in March 2023, over a dozen other states moved to enact similar legislation to protect kids. Tennessee’s law was challenged by leftist activists and the Biden administration, bouncing through the federal court system before the Supreme Court agreed to take it up. Walsh also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1498-on-demand">spoke</a> at a rally in front of the Supreme Court in December 2024, continuing to push for an end to transgender procedures on children. 
In June 2025, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in United States v. Skrmetti that states were allowed to protect kids from transgender procedures under the Constitution. 
Walsh said that the decision was a “fatal blow” to transgender ideology. 
“Three years ago, we launched our investigation into Vanderbilt’s child mutilation practices,” he <a href="https://x.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1935345883769430153">said</a>. “We rallied in the state capital. Our lawmakers responded with a law banning child mutilation in the state. Today the Supreme Court upheld our law, which means child mutilation can be banned anywhere and everywhere in the country. And should be. This is a truly historic victory and I’m grateful to be a part of it, along with so many others who have fought relentlessly for years.”

Matt Walsh/Supreme Court

Decade Of Daily Wire: How We Fought Back Against Child Mutilation And Won

Daily Wire

Matt Walsh

Supreme Court

The Trump administration is backing legislation that would ban doctors from performing transgender procedures on children and allow lawsuits against doctors or hospitals who greenlit such procedures.  
The Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-proposes-legislation-protect-children-gender-mutilation">said</a> Wednesday that it had “transmitted a legislative proposal to Congress that protects and defends children from chemical and surgical mutilation under the guise of ‘gender-affirming care.’” In the press release, the DOJ said it was backing a proposal from Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Rep. Bob Onder (R-MO) that would protect children nationwide from transgender procedures. 
“The Department of Justice has heard from far too many families who have been devastated by mutilative medical procedures that fly in the face of basic biology,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “While we continue our ongoing legal battle to protect children, we appreciate our colleagues in Congress who are working diligently alongside us to end these abusive procedures once and for all.”
The <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1412656/dl?inline">proposal</a> from the Republican lawmakers, called the Victims of Chemical or Surgical Mutilation Act, would ban doctors from doing transgender surgeries like removing the breasts of girls who identify as boys or genital procedures. It would also ban children who identify as transgender from being put on puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones. 
Puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones can permanently destroy fertility, stunt bone growth, and impact heart health. 
The bill would also allow children who were put on transgender procedures to bring a civil suit for &#8220;damages against any healthcare professional, physician, hospital, or clinic, who participates in the chemical or surgical mutilation of that child. This includes, but is not limited to, compensatory damages, including all economic damages associated with undoing, correcting, or ameliorating the effects or results of any chemical or surgical mutilation procedures, and noneconomic damages for emotional distress and pain and suffering.&#8221;
The legislation would allow kids to sue their doctors within 25 years of their 18th birthday.
President Donald Trump has cracked down on transgender procedures for kids, signing an executive order in January that ended federal funding for any entity performing or promoting the procedures. His administration has also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/health-care-puts-stop-to-trans-surgeries-on-kids">pressured</a> hospitals across the country to stop the procedures.

Attorney General Pam Bondi Announces Sinaloa Cartel Co-Founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia Guilty Plea

Trump Admin Backs Nationwide Push To Protect Kids From Transgender Procedures

Department of Justice

gender ideology

Marsha Blackburn

Trump Administration

GOP Rep. Tom Emmer on Thursday called for his home state of Minnesota to repeal its “trans refuge” law in the wake of the deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis by a transgender-identifying man.
Emmer <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/08/28/us-news/house-gop-whip-tom-emmer-calls-for-repeal-of-minnesotas-trans-refuge-law/">told</a> the New York Post that the law, which was passed back in 2023 and signed by Democratic Governor Tim Walz, was encouraging mental distress. The law made Minnesota a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/leftist-minnesota-just-gave-state-power-to-take-kids-away-if-parents-dont-approve-gender-surgery">safe haven</a> for parents to take their children to undergo transgender procedures if their home states had banned such practices. 
“We got to respect everyone. We got to have compassion for everyone. But we got to understand that we’ve got some serious mental health issues that are being exacerbated by these types of messages by people like Tim Walz and everybody who supported that law,” Emmer, the House GOP whip, told The Post. 
Emmer made the comments just one day after Robin Westman, a 23-year-old man who identified as a woman and previously went by Robert, opened fire during a school Mass held at Annunciation Catholic School. Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed in the attack, and 18 other people were injured. 
“They should immediately repeal it, but they won’t,” Emmer said of the 2023 law. “They have been encouraging this type of confusion. This poor young man was tortured. He clearly had serious mental health issues and rather than actually helping him, they were actually exacerbating it.”
“You look at the sadness of these tortured human beings — because they do have regrets later — and no, we should have never started it. It should not be allowed,” he said. 
Portions of writings Westman left behind <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wish-i-never-brain-washed-myself-minnesota-school-shooter-said-he-was-tired-of-being-trans?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=‘Wish+I+Never+Brain-Washed+Myself’%3A+Minnesota+School+Shooter+Said+He+Was+‘Tired+Of+Being+Trans’">indicate</a> he had regrets about identifying as transgender. 
“I only keep [long hair] because it is pretty much my last shred of being trans. I am tired of being trans, I wish I never brain-washed myself,” Westman reportedly wrote in a journal entry. 
In another section of his journal, Westman reportedly wrote, “I don’t want to dress girly all the time but I guess sometimes I really like it. I know I am not a woman but I definitely don’t feel like a man.”
Police have said that Westman’s writings were “full of hate,” and published portions reveal that he had disliked Jews, Catholics, and considered attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump. 
Emmer said that someone must have failed to intervene in Westman&#8217;s life because there had to have been warning signs about his mental state.  
“Somebody had to know,” he told the Post. “Somebody in his neighborhood, somebody in his family, somebody in his network, somebody had to know that he had these serious mental health issues and why didn’t someone speak up? Why didn’t somebody offer him some help?”

House Passes Crypto Market Structure Bill

Top House Republican Demands Minnesota ‘Immediately’ Repeal ‘Trans Refuge’ Law

Annunciation Catholic School

Congress

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Minnesota

Politics

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Tim Walz

The president of a major medical organization made wild claims about the benefits of transgender procedures on kids during a conversation with a Michigan lawmaker before falling back on so-called “experts,” according to video footage <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2267-trump-protects-the-american-flag-plus-we-break-a-major-story?elementPosition=3&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">published</a> by the Ben Shapiro Show on Tuesday. 
During a video call earlier this year, American Medical Association (AMA) President Bobby Mukkamala defended his organization’s support for transgender procedures on kids by saying they relied on what “experts” had told them. Mukkamala also claimed that puberty blockers were reversible and cited other questionable statistics about transgender regret and suicide rates. 
Mukkamala made the comments during a call with Michigan Rep. Brad Paquette and Dr. Eithan Haim, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-doctor-blew-the-whistle-on-his-hospitals-transgender-clinic-now-the-feds-are-trying-to-ruin-his-life">doctor who exposed</a> Texas Children’s Hospital for doing transgender procedures on kids.  When pressed on the American Medical Association’s <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/ama-press-releases/ama-states-stop-interfering-health-care-transgender-children">advocacy</a> for transgender procedures on kids, Mukkamala said that the association effectively rubberstamps whatever “the experts” tell them. 
“Neither one of us spent an hour working on transgender care, neither one of us,” Mukkamala told Haim in the footage obtained by Shapiro. “So we have no business discussing the science that&#8217;s brought to the American Medical Association from people that spent years in training for this, and years taking care of patients for this.”
The call was arranged by Paquette, a Republican who represents the southwest corner of Michigan, who was looking to discuss the AMA&#8217;s endorsement of transgender procedures on kids. Paquette supports shielding kids from transgender procedures and introduced a bill in May that would have banned them in Michigan.
The American Medical Association is the largest association of medical professionals in the United States and plays a powerful role in medical education, ethics, and advocacy.
&#8220;This footage is pretty catastrophic for the AMA,&#8221; Shapiro said. &#8220;It proves beyond any doubt that their support for trans &#8216;healthcare&#8217; is based on fake science, willful blindness, and a total abandonment of all evidence-based medicine — all of which are supposed to be antithetical to the existence of their organization, a violation of the Hippocratic Oath.&#8221;
WATCH BEN&#8217;S FULL EPISODE ON AMA: 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="LEAKED FOOTAGE: American Medical Association Exposed" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J2hsAz7h07U?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Throughout the call, Haim pressed Mukkamala to provide evidence that transgender procedures don&#8217;t have damaging long-term impacts on kids. When he brought up the flawed studies frequently cited by WPATH and other proponents of transgender procedures, Mukkamala said that he relied on the interpretations of others and didn’t look at them himself.
“I don&#8217;t look at them. I rely on a specialty society to look at them and then give us their opinion of them. I&#8217;m not an expert at all. And honestly, I don&#8217;t think you are either,” he said. “I&#8217;m not an expert at all. I&#8217;m not an expert at all in the science that you&#8217;re talking to me about. I defer to the experts.”
At one point, Mukkamala clearly mocks Haim for even asking questions about the issue.
&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
EXCLUSIVE: Secretly recorded call with American Medical Association President, Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, reveals an alarming abdication of responsibility on &#8220;gender-affirming care&#8221; at the highest level of medicine.
Confronted with &#8216;puberty blocker&#8217; side effects, Dr. Bobby evades: <a href="https://t.co/PCqHqNpjts">pic.twitter.com/PCqHqNpjts</a>
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1960403515999690972?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Commenting on Mukkamala&#8217;s repeated claims that he was not an expert,  Shapiro said that he should at least be aware of the ethical issues surrounding transgender medicine.
&#8220;And sure, he’s not an expert in endocrinology or plastic surgery,&#8221; Shapiro said. &#8220;But as the President of the AMA, he’s meant to be an expert in the AMA’s code of ethics, and at the bare minimum, the Hippocratic Oath.&#8221;
Mukkamala also claimed during the call that puberty blockers were reversible. Studies have shown that puberty blockers can cause permanent damage to fertility and loss of bone density, especially in the hips and spine. 
&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
3/ CLAIM: The AMA’s Dr. Bobby asserts that so-called “puberty blockers” are “reversible,” dismissing Dr. Haim’s attempts to correct him—despite Dr. Haim having worked with patients who need puberty blockers for actual endocrine disorders and being well versed in their harms. <a href="https://t.co/nHYvgnBiQr">pic.twitter.com/nHYvgnBiQr</a>
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1960403521141887136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
He also suggested that between 50-70% of transgender individuals commit suicide and that only 2% of those who have medical transgender procedures regret those procedures. Both numbers are suspect, as even the most extreme studies only say that up to 40% of transgender identifying people have attempted suicide. 
&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
5/ CLAIM: Dr. Bobby insists there is only a 2% regret rate among those who medically ‘transition,’ and cites his source as the doctors who perform the transing of the kids. An unbiased group if ever there was one… <a href="https://t.co/kLDFzHAByd">pic.twitter.com/kLDFzHAByd</a>
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1960403528066707955?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The 2% regret rate comes from a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33968550/">study</a> that only measured after surgery, not the tens of thousands of kids who have been placed on puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones. It also did not measure regret past two years after the initial surgery. 
After Paquette told Mukkamala that he was upset by what he was hearing about kids being pushed to transition, he said that “the way to not be distraught is to talk to experts.”
Mukkamala also appeared to claim that sex change surgeries were not happening on kids in Michigan. This conflicts with data <a href="https://stoptheharmdatabase.com/state/michigan/">compiled</a> by Do No Harm that shows that there have been at least 186 kids who have undergone a transgender surgery in Michigan. 
The American Medical Association has been a staunch defender of transgender procedures on kids for years. In April 2021, the organization sent a <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/ama-press-releases/ama-states-stop-interfering-health-care-transgender-children">letter</a> to governors across the country urging them not to protect kids from transgender procedures. 
“Empirical evidence has demonstrated that trans and non-binary gender identities are normal variations of human identity and expression,” the organization wrote. “It is imperative that transgender minors be given the opportunity to explore their gender identity under the safe and supportive care of a physician.”
Then, in a 2022 speech, then-American Medical Association President Jack Resneck Jr. claimed that opposition to transgender procedures on kids was driven by “misinformation.” 
“Drivers of disinformation say that gender-affirming care clinics are performing genital mutilation surgeries on teens, not involving families in care decisions, or using medical treatments on young children who show up after wondering for one day if they are trans,” he said.
Advocates of radical gender ideology will frequently cite organizations like the American Medical Association for reasons why the procedures should remain legal. Over two dozen states have acted in the last few years to ban transgender surgeries on minors.
WATCH THE FULL CONVERSATION:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="The AMA’s Dr. Bobby Mukkamala on “Gender Affirming Care”" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mxb1qG-yvzY?start=4&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

MixCollage-26-Aug-2025-02-06-PM-282

Leaked Footage Exposes Top Med Org’s Support For Trans Procedures On Kids: ‘I’m Not An Expert At All’

American Medical Association

Ben Shapiro

Medical Research

Michigan

The Ben Shapiro Show

Transgender

In a TikTok video on Monday, a Michigan Democratic legislator offered to help children access “gender-affirming” care if they contacted her office.
Michigan State Rep. Carrie Rheingans said in the video that she was specifically talking to “trans kids here in Michigan,” adding that life-altering gender procedures are still legal in the state. Wearing a “Protect Trans Kids” sweatshirt, the Michigan Democrat posted the video Monday in response to the University of Michigan’s hospital network <a href="https://michiganadvance.com/2025/08/25/university-of-michigan-health-ends-gender-affirming-care-after-doj-subpoena/">ending</a> gender procedures for minors under pressure from the Department of Justice.
In her video, Rheingans told children that they could still get “care” at other places in Michigan.
“I want you to know, as trans kids here in Michigan, that this care is obviously safe and effective. That’s why it’s been approved and why it’s been used all across the country and continues to be used,” she added. “So if you need to find a new place to get care it is still legal here in Michigan, and reach out to our office, we’ll be able to connect you to what might still be available in our community.”
Rheingans, who represents Ann Arbor, urged children to “please contact our office” and provided contact information.
“We love you. We are really supportive of you as kids, and we want to make sure that you can grow up and thrive here in Michigan,” she added.
&nbsp;
<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@reprheingans/video/7542692547190181151" data-video-id="7542692547190181151">
<section><a title="@reprheingans" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@reprheingans?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@reprheingans</a> 🏳️‍⚧️ <a title="transkids" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/transkids?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#TransKids</a> in <a title="michigan" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/michigan?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#Michigan</a>: we live you and want to see you grow and thrive here 🩵🤍🩷 <a title="genderaffirmingcare" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/genderaffirmingcare?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#GenderAffirmingCare</a> <a title="♬ original sound - MI State RepCarrie Rheingans" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7542692567620602655?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">♬ original sound &#8211; MI State RepCarrie Rheingans</a></section>
</blockquote>
&nbsp;
The federal government and medical establishment previously pushed gender procedures for children as an effective way to treat gender dysphoria, but the practice has come under intense <a href="https://opa.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2025-05/gender-dysphoria-report-exec-summary.pdf">scrutiny</a> as new research highlights the dangers of performing life-altering gender surgeries and puberty blockers. A Health and Human Services <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hhs-releases-damning-review-of-gender-treatments-for-minors-the-risks-cannot-be-ignored">review</a> released earlier this year, shortly after President Donald Trump took office, stated, “These interventions carry risk of significant harms including infertility/sterility, sexual dysfunction, impaired bone density accrual, adverse cognitive impacts, cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders, psychiatric disorders, surgical complications, and regret.”
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=summer&amp;utm_content=editorialsummersale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
Even before Trump stepped into the White House, the federal government was changing its tune on gender procedures for children. Last summer, the Biden administration opposed lowering the age minimums for hormonal treatments, mastectomies, breast augmentations, facial, and genital surgeries, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/28/health/transgender-surgery-biden.html">reported</a>.
The Trump administration has threatened to cut federal funding to hospitals that continue to perform gender procedures on children, resulting in many large hospitals such as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/health-care-puts-stop-to-trans-surgeries-on-kids">Kaiser Permanente</a> and <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/us-hospitals-ending-gender-affirming-care-minors-impact/story?id=124889031">Children’s National Hospital</a> ending the practice.
Michigan Republican state Rep. Brad Paquette, who is leading an effort in the Great Lakes State to protect children from gender procedures, told The Daily Wire that he has a “good relationship” with Rheingans and has discussed the issue with her “pretty extensively.”
“So here in the state of Michigan, one of the unfortunate aspects is my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are completely captured by this ideology, this gender theory,” Paquette said. “So I’m trying to do my best to figure out how to get my colleagues informed as to what these procedures are.”
“She has this mentality that she carries — that the trans activists carry — that there are safe spaces, that you’re an ally or you’re not,” Paquette added. “And this causes an extreme divide among families and in the political arena.”
Rheingans did not respond to a Daily Wire request for comment, but she did address some criticism of her video on social media.
“Horrifying because I told children that I love them. Calm down,” she <a href="https://x.com/RepRheingans/status/1960364046546244058">replied</a> to one post from conservative communicator Steve Guest, who said it was “one of the most horrifying videos that I’ve ever seen posted by a politician.”
“Kids need to see that some grownups love them, and not all are bullies,” she <a href="https://x.com/RepRheingans/status/1960373622473691545">wrote</a> in another post.
Rheingans has made LGBT issues a significant part of her political agenda, saying earlier this year that she was “proud to vote YES to expand Michigan’s civil rights law,” which added sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected classes.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🫶🏻 Thank you to our many constituents and advocates from @equality_michigan for sharing your stories and being your beautiful selves! I was proud to vote YES to expand <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Michigan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Michigan</a>&#8216;s civil rights law &#8230; 1/2 <a href="https://t.co/2M3mtsfooo">pic.twitter.com/2M3mtsfooo</a>
— Rep. Carrie Rheingans (@RepRheingans) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepRheingans/status/1923327547858731264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
In 2024, Rheingans spoke at the Ann Arbor Pride Festival and <a href="https://archive.ph/VU0Dl#selection-1603.0-1606.0">urged</a> gay people to run for office.
“If you have never thought about running for office, we need more gays in office, go run for office,” she said. “We need to have a bigger LGBTQ caucus.”

Trans flag

‘Please Contact Our Office’: Dem Lawmaker Tells Kids That She’ll Help Them Undergo Gender Procedures

Democrats

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TikTok

Nearly two months after winning a landmark Supreme Court case that cemented states&#8217; ability to protect kids from transgender medical procedures, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti says the decision triggered a nationwide reckoning on radical gender ideology. 
The case, United States v. Skrmetti, centered on a Tennessee law that prohibited doctors from performing transgender surgeries on kids and giving them puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones. Discussing the impact of the case during an interview in Nashville with The Daily Wire at the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/america-is-not-a-short-term-thing-lawmakers-urge-young-republicans-take-up-the-fight">National Young Republican Convention</a>, Skrmetti said that the case may have sounded the death knell for radical gender ideology. 
“It&#8217;s almost like there was a balloon that kept getting filled up and filled up and filled up with this radical ideology. And as soon as it&#8217;s popped, all the air’s gone and everybody starts looking around and realizing, you know, maybe they did something they shouldn&#8217;t have,” he said, noting that the public&#8217;s faith in so-called medical experts had been shattered because of their promotion of transgender ideology. 
“The biggest thing that surprised me is the cultural effect, because it seems like it&#8217;s really sparked a lot of introspection about how we got to where we were, and a lot of people kind of went along with what they were hearing from experts are questioning the validity of that,” Skrmetti said.
In the years leading up to the Supreme Court clash, hospitals across the country opened gender clinics for kids, and groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association all promoted the life-altering procedures.
The ruling coincided with efforts from the Trump administration to crack down on hospitals nationwide that have performed gender procedures on kids. Skrmetti pointed out that some hospitals may now face legal repercussions for performing transgender procedures on kids. 
For example, detransitioner Chloe Cole has sued the doctors who oversaw the removal of her breasts and hormone procedures, accusing them of pushing her to medically and surgically attempt to change her gender while she was struggling with mental illness and was incapable of fully consenting as a minor.
“If you give a kid a life altering procedure and it turns out that there was any coercion or that they didn&#8217;t really consent or that you were doing it knowing about risks that you didn&#8217;t disclose or whatever, that could potentially cost some of the hospitals that have done this incredible amounts of money,” Skrmetti said. 
Skrimetti said that he was unaware of any hospitals in Tennessee that were not complying with state law, adding that it would be “bonkers” to do so. 
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The Tennessee official added that he had expected to end up before the Supreme Court at some point during his tenure as attorney general, but that he hadn&#8217;t expected it to be such a high-profile case. The case came after the ACLU and the Biden administration sued Tennessee over the law. Tennessee was represented by Matthew Rice, the state&#8217;s solicitor general and a former professional baseball player. Skrmetti praised Rice for spending months preparing for oral arguments. 
Remembering the atmosphere of the case, Skrmetti described the Supreme Court as “a really special place,” adding that “you feel the weight of history in there.” 
Skrmetti added that it was surreal to be sitting so close to the justices of the court alongside Tennessee Solicitor General Matt Rice, who argued the case. He said he didn’t expect ever to have a similar experience again.
“I read about them all the time,” he said. “They&#8217;re the justices of the Supreme Court, and then all of a sudden, you&#8217;re sitting there in a case with your name on it, with Justice Gorsuch and Justice Barrett, like 10 feet away. It almost doesn&#8217;t feel real.”
Tennessee&#8217;s victory at the Supreme Court has already had legal ramifications for other states looking to shield kids from transgender procedures. Last week, a federal appeals court overturned a block of Arkansas&#8217;s first-in-the-nation ban on such procedures, citing the Skrmetti ruling.

Supreme Court Considers Tennessee’s Ban On Treatments For Transgender Minors

‘All The Air’s Gone’: Tennessee AG Says SCOTUS Win Deflated Transgender Movement

Tennessee

An Arkansas law shielding kids from transgender medical procedures passed four years ago can now be enforced after a federal appeals court overturned a block on the legislation. 
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled Tuesday in an 8-2 decision to allow the Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act (SAFE) to go into effect. The law prohibits doctors from performing transgender procedures on kids and blocks them from referring kids for such procedures. 
“The question is whether this Nation’s history and tradition, as well as its historical understanding of ordered liberty, support the right of a parent to obtain for his or her child a medical treatment that, although the child desires it and a doctor approves, the state legislature deems inappropriate for minors. This court finds no such right in this Nation’s history and tradition,” the majority <a href="https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/25/08/232681P.pdf">wrote</a> in their opinion. 
The ruling comes just weeks after the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in June upholding Tennessee’s ban on transgender procedures for kids. The justices pointed to the Tennessee case multiple times throughout their opinion. 
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The law blocks procedures like removing the breasts of girls who identify as boys, genital procedures, and prescribing kids puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. These procedures have been shown to cause irreversible consequences for bone density, fertility, and development. Arkansas was the first state to pass such a law, and now over two dozen states have enacted similar legislation. 
The law was first blocked by a district judge in July 2021 by a lawsuit from four minors living in Arkansas and two medical professionals. The suit claimed that the law violated the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection and Due Process clauses. 
“To the contrary, the Act does not classify based on transgender status. Like the Tennessee law upheld by the Supreme Court, the Act effectively divides minors into two groups,” the judges wrote. “In one group are minors seeking drugs or surgeries for the purposes that the Act prohibits. In the other group are minors seeking drugs or surgeries for purposes the Act does not prohibit.”
The ruling was celebrated by Arkansas Republican officials who defended the law. 
“I applaud the court’s decision and am pleased that children in Arkansas will be protected from experimental procedures,” Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said. 
“This is a win for common sense — and for our kids,” Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders <a href="https://x.com/SarahHuckabee/status/1955351793916928062">posted</a> on X. “Arkansas’ first-in-the nation law to protect kids from life-altering gender experiments is back in effect!”

Congressional Leaders Unveil Johnny Cash Statue At US Capitol

Red State Can Now Protect Kids From Trans Procedures After Court Victory

Red State Can Protect Kids From Trans Procedures After Court Victory

Arkansas

Courts

The Justice Department subpoenaed Boston Children’s Hospital for alleged healthcare fraud related to sex-change surgeries for minors, <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/exclusive-boston-childrens-hospital-subpoenaed-by-doj-over-gender-transition-procedures-for-minors/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Review</a> reported Monday.
The department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-subpoenas-doctors-and-clinics-involved-performing-transgender-medical?utm_source=semafor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> earlier this month that it was investigating hospitals “involved in performing transgender medical procedures on children” for “healthcare fraud, false statements, and more.”
“Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the memo.
In <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/protecting-children-from-chemical-and-surgical-mutilation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">January, Trump</a> signed an executive order banning federal funding for sex-change surgeries for minors. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a rule change this month to implement the order. In May, CMS sent a letter to hospitals requesting “financial data for all pediatric sex trait modifications” that are “paid, in whole or in part, by the federal government.”
Some hospitals have <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/kaiser-permanente-to-pause-transgender-surgeries-for-teenagers-nationwide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paused</a> programs or even <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/l-a-childrens-closes-trans-youth-center-under-pressure-from-trump-admin-joins-growing-list-of-closures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">closed</a> their clinics offering gender transition interventions to minors following Trump’s executive orders.
However, according to whistleblowers — including adults who regret their sex-transition surgeries and surgeon Eithan Haim — others are finding ways of getting around the ban.
Whistleblower testimony claims that hospitals use deceptive billing codes to hide sex change surgeries for children while making insurance claims under federal programs like Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
The hospital didn’t address the specific allegations.
“Boston Children’s Hospital is committed to providing safe, evidence-based, and compassionate care to every patient and family we serve,” a Boston Children’s Hospital spokesman told National Review.
The hospital has a history of politically motivated healthcare.
While the hospital has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/boston-childrens-hospital-warns-employees-far-right-online-harassment-rcna43376" target="_blank" rel="noopener">denied</a> performing sex-change surgeries on minors, an <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/11/7/1943" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a> published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine by faculty members claims that its Center for Gender Surgery is “the first pediatric center in the United States to offer gender-affirming chest surgeries for individuals over 15 years old and genital surgeries for those over 17 years of age.”
Last year, Boston Children’s faced backlash after halving its assessment time for children requesting life-altering transgender medical interventions. Laura Edwards-Leeper, who was the founding psychologist for the hospital’s gender clinic, the first of its kind in the United States, called the decision “<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14035429/boston-children-hospital-doctor-fury-transgender-surgery.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crazy</a>.”
Boston Children’s is one of three hospitals currently being <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-launches-probes-against-3-childrens-hospitals-genital-mutilation-minors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investigated</a> by the FBI for potential violation of a federal statute that condemns female genital mutilation.
The Justice Department has issued subpoenas to 20 medical establishments in total. While it did not reveal the names of the establishments in its memo, the <a href="https://coloradosun.com/2025/07/18/childrens-hospital-colorado-subpoena-gender-affirming-care/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Children’s Hospital Colorado</a> has stated that it is also under investigation.

Attorney General Pam Bondi Testifies In Senate Hearing

Trump DOJ Subpoenas Boston Children’s Hospital For Alleged Youth Sex Change Fraud

Boston Children's Hospital

Fraud

Medicare

Pam Bondi

Health care provider Kaiser Permanente confirmed to The Daily Wire on Wednesday that it was pausing all transgender surgeries for patients under the age of 19 in response to pressure from the Trump administration.
The health care giant said that effective August 29 it would stop doing transgender surgeries — which includes procedures like removing the breasts of girls who identify as boys or other genital procedures. The company said the pause was a result of pressure from the Trump administration cracking down on transgender procedures on minors. 
“After significant deliberation and consultation with internal and external experts including our physicians, we’ve made the difficult decision to pause surgical treatment for patients under the age of 19 in our hospitals and surgical centers,” the health care giant told The Daily Wire. “We recognize that this is an extremely challenging and stressful time for our patients seeking care, as well as for our clinicians whose mission is to care for them. We will work closely with each patient to support their care journey.”
The statement from Kaiser Permanente added that it would continue providing all “other gender-affirming care treatment.” This would include things like administering cross-sex hormones to kids, procedures that have been shown to have a serious impact on fertility and body development. 
Kaiser Permanente said that the decision was ultimately made because of pressure from the Trump administration. 
“Since January, there has been significant focus by the federal government on gender-affirming care, specifically for patients under the age of 19,” the company said. “This has included executive orders instructing federal agencies to take actions to curtail access and restrict funding for gender-affirming care, hospital inquiries by the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services, and regulatory changes to coverage and broader federal agency review, including by the Federal Trade Commission. 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.”
The pause was first <a href="https://x.com/BillboardChris/status/1948111553229905931">reported</a> on X by activist Billboard Chris. 
Kaiser Permanente has been sued by Chloe Cole, a woman who underwent transgender procedures as a minor before she overcame her gender dysphoria. Cole says that her doctors pushed her to medically and surgically attempt to change her gender while she was struggling with mental illness and incapable of full consent.
Cole celebrated the pause on X, thanking the Trump administration for its actions.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Kaiser Permanente, the gender clinic that destroyed my childhood, has confirmed they will be HALTING transgender surgeries for patients under the age of 19 nationwide, effective next month!
This is only a pause, according to internal emails, but these incremental wins must be… <a href="https://t.co/6zWQofQlkm">pic.twitter.com/6zWQofQlkm</a>
— Chloe Cole ⭐️ (@ChoooCole) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChoooCole/status/1948125026810515897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Cole is represented by the Center for American Liberty, which also praised the decision. 
“Kaiser Permanente’s decision is a monumental step toward protecting vulnerable youth,” CEO Mark Trammell said. “For too long, children have been subjected to life-altering surgical procedures at an age when they lack the capacity for informed consent. Our ongoing litigation with courageous detransitioners such as Chloe Cole, Luka Hein, and Clementine Breen has exposed the irreversible harm caused by these medical interventions.”

CA Attorney General Announces 49 Million Settlement With Kaiser Foundation Over Illegal Disposal Of Hazardous Waste

Health Care Provider Puts Stop To Trans Surgeries On Kids

Health Care

Earlier this month, CNBC published a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/07/14/americas-worst-places-quality-of-life-top-states-for-business.html">report</a> detailing which states represent “America’s worst for quality of life in 2025.” What they gave was a list of the places terrified liberals are fleeing as cities collapse under the weight of disastrous liberal policies.
The “worst” ones are called out for issues such as “inclusiveness of state laws” and “reproductive rights.” Reliably red states including Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Utah, and Texas all make the list, but then comes the doozy: the worst of the worst, per CNBC, is the <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/products/make-america-tennessee-hat?_pos=1&amp;_sid=2117ef68f&amp;_ss=r">good old Volunteer State.</a>
The news outlet gives Tennessee 61 out of a possible 265 points for its “quality of life” score, noting issues such as “crime rate,” “inclusiveness,” and “worker protections.”
CNBC also notes that The Volunteer State has “been at the forefront of legislation limiting the rights of its LGBTQ+ population, beginning as far back as 2015. The state was among the earliest to codify a person&#8217;s gender based on their anatomy, passing its law in 2023.”
So, it’s a state where men are men, women are women, and everyone loves country music? Sure. Sounds like a leftist’s nightmare. That’s why we love it. 
There were several reasons Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro gave for moving the company from Los Angeles to Nashville five years ago, and all of them had to do with common sense. “Terrible governance has consequences,” Shapiro <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tennessee-lawmakers-pass-resolution-congratulating-daily-wires-ben-shapiro-for-moving-his-company-to-the-state">said</a> of California’s leadership. 
Specific issues such as “high housing costs, rampant homelessness, the extraordinary state and local tax burden, the city’s refusal to maintain law and order, and the deliberate degradation of the quality of life for citizens,” were all reasons for abandoning California, per a TN state <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tennessee-lawmakers-pass-resolution-congratulating-daily-wires-ben-shapiro-for-moving-his-company-to-the-state">resolution</a> congratulating him for the move.
There’s never been a better time to hit back against the mainstream narrative and assert that Tennessee isn’t just one of the greatest states of the union – it’s actually the standard all other states should be measured against. 
You don’t have to live in Tennessee to appreciate what politicians and activists, including The Daily Wire’s very own Matt Walsh, have been able to accomplish when it comes to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tn-senate-leader-credits-daily-wire-investigation-for-inspiring-ban-on-gender-procedures-for-minors">protecting minors</a> from the horrors of gender procedures. 
Just last month, in a decision that will now set precedent throughout the entire country, the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/scotus-says-tennessee-can-protect-kids-from-trans-procedures-other-states-should-follow-our-lead">upheld</a> Tennessee’s right to protect our children from irreversible and unproven medical procedures under the guise of “gender-affirming care.” 
It was not just a victory for Tennessee, but for every state in the union. That decision paved the way for other states to follow suit and once again return to a nation of common sense.
Sending a message to CNBC and whoever put together this laughable list of worst states has never been easier. Put on your new <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/products/make-america-tennessee-hat?utm_campaign=MAT-hat&amp;utm_content=20250722&amp;utm_source=editorial">“Make America Tennessee” hat</a>, slip on your favorite cowboy boots, and thank the good Lord above you’re not stuck living in New Jersey. 
Can <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/products/make-america-tennessee-hat?utm_campaign=MAT-hat&amp;utm_content=20250722&amp;utm_source=editorial">one hat</a> change the world? 
MAGA devotees will say heck yes. And now there’s a new declarative accessory that makes a bold statement with just a few simple words. 
“Make America Tennessee.”
That’s the message. Even when the haters claim it’s the “worst state” in the nation, regular people know what’s really going on.
<a href="https://store.dailywire.com/products/make-america-tennessee-hat?_pos=1&amp;_sid=2117ef68f&amp;_ss=r"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-950581 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MAT-Hat-newsletter-ORNG-4x5-compressed-1-461x576.jpg" alt="" width="461" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MAT-Hat-newsletter-ORNG-4x5-compressed-1-461x576.jpg 461w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MAT-Hat-newsletter-ORNG-4x5-compressed-1-240x300.jpg 240w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MAT-Hat-newsletter-ORNG-4x5-compressed-1-768x960.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MAT-Hat-newsletter-ORNG-4x5-compressed-1.jpg 1230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px" /></a>

Leftists Hate Tennessee. We Call It Home.

CNBC

Leftists

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom was unable to definitively provide an answer when he was asked if a child who is eight years old is too young to undergo irreversible transgender procedures.
Newsom, who appears to be ramping up his 2028 presidential campaign efforts, joined podcast host Shawn Ryan this week and was asked point-blank about his personal views on so-called &#8220;gender-affirming care.&#8221;
“What about for your values, is eight years old too young?&#8221; Ryan asked Newsom. 
&#8220;Yeah, I mean look, now that I have a 9-year-old — just became nine. Come on, man, I get it,&#8221; Newsom said. &#8220;So those are legit — it&#8217;s interesting, the issue of age, I haven&#8217;t &#8230; As someone that&#8217;s been so focused on equality, broadly — LGBT rights, particularly, though, gay marriage. The trans issue for me is also novel — it&#8217;s over the last few years, I&#8217;m trying to understand as much as anyone else. The whole pronoun thing, trying to understand all of that. That was like — all that stuff, I get it. All this stuff started to collapse on us.&#8221;
&#8220;On the issue of children, this is a tough, tough issue,&#8221; the governor added.
Newsom later said that he&#8217;s coming to this issue &#8220;more open-minded than I&#8217;ve ever been,&#8221; but also suggested he didn&#8217;t take it seriously early on because conservatives, whom he &#8220;didn&#8217;t respect,&#8221; opposed it.
&#8220;A lot of the pushback came from folks, candidly, that I didn&#8217;t respect, that never respected the gay community, period,&#8221; Newsom said. &#8220;They were people who were opposed to just basic rights, &#8230; so I think that my next inclination was to dismiss, and now I recognize more fully and deeply. And I think the sports issue really opened that door for me.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Ryan: Is 8 years old too young for a sex change?
Newsom: Yeah&#8230; Now that I have a 9-year-old, come on man, I get it. <a href="https://t.co/aCSFvwrg9V">pic.twitter.com/aCSFvwrg9V</a>
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) <a href="https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1944858509679472709?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
Notably, Newsom made California the first “<a href="https://www.kqed.org/news/11929233/california-becomes-first-sanctuary-state-for-transgender-youth-seeking-medical-care">sanctuary state</a>” for transgender-identifying minors seeking these life-altering surgeries. The state also has policies that allow teachers to shield parents from knowing about their child&#8217;s &#8220;gender transition.&#8221; 
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/not-anti-gun-at-all-newsoms-latest-attempt-to-disguise-his-rampant-leftism?author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=‘Not+Anti-Gun+At+All’%3A+Newsom’s+Latest+Attempt+To+Disguise+His+Rampant+Leftism">‘Not Anti-Gun At All’: Newsom’s Latest Attempt To Disguise His Rampant Leftism</a>

Gavin Newsom

Gavin Newsom Can’t Say Whether Eight Is Too Young To ‘Transition’ Genders

Newsom Asked If 8 Years Old Is Too Young To ‘Transition.’ He Can’t Answer. 

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