A children’s hospital in Boston has become the latest target of violent, right-wing harassment and abuse, following viral lies from the Twitter account LibsOfTikTok, which claimed: “Boston Children’s Hospital is now offering ‘gender-affirming hysterectomies’ for young girls.” The lies perpetuated by the Twitter account have since been picked up by far-reaching conservative outlets including the Daily Caller, the Post Millennial, and the Gateway Pundit, and shared on social media by right-wing influencers like Stephen Miller, the former Trump administration official, and the Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh.
Deceptive and inaccurate articles about Boston Children’s Hospital “abusing” kids have also been circulating across right-wing online forums, where commenters have shared videos, phone numbers, photos, and other contact information for the hospital and staff. The hospital has since been inundated with threatening phone calls and online harassment. Conservative forums are teeming with comments calling for the doctors to be harmed, criminalized, and even killed, according to Vice News.
As of Thursday, LibsOfTikTOk has been banned by Facebook following its anti-trans lies and the abuse they’ve fueled. However, LibsOfTikTok remains active on Twitter as of Thursday afternoon and did not immediately respond to request for comment.
“In response to commentary last week critical of our Gender Multispecialty Service (GeMS) Program, Boston Children’s Hospital has been the target of a large volume of hostile internet activity, phone calls, and harassing emails, including threats of violence toward our clinicians and staff,” the hospital said in a statement posted to Twitter on Tuesday. In the same statement, it specified that claims it performs “hysterectomies on minors in connection with transgender care” are “incorrect.”
“We are deeply concerned by these attacks on our clinicians and staff fueled by misinformation and a lack of understanding and respect for our transgender community,” the hospital said.
Boston Children’s Hospital has every reason to be concerned.
“Long past time to start executing these ‘doctors,’” one member of the pro-Trump forum TheDonald reportedly commented. This, of course, comes from the same forum that recently led members to dox and threaten the judge who signed the warrant for the FBI to search the former president’s home at Mar-a-Lago. The judge’s synagogue was forced to cancel its services following an onslaught of violent, anti-Semitic threats.
Other commenters on the far-right social platform Telegram said of doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital, “Demons like this do not deserve to breathe! Crimes against humanity=DEATH.” Another unsurprisingly said they “should be locked up” for preying on children.
As attacks on Boston Children’s Hospital appear to escalate, LibsOfTikTok has since set its sights on Phoenix Children’s Hospital, stating the hospital “boasts about doing medical transitions on kids. They also follow WPATH guidelines which allow ‘gender affirming’ surgeries for minors.”
The right-wing activists spreading these lies know what happens next—doxxing, stalking, threats, coordinated harassment and abuse, and inevitably, eventually, real-life violent attacks. Last year was the deadliest year on record for trans people, and at least 25 have already been killed this year. The tactics targeting children’s hospitals and deceitfully warping their support for trans youth into pedophilia are akin to what anti-abortion activists have been doing for years: lying about clinics “harvesting” fetuses’ brains and abortion providers gleefully killing babies, then sharing their addresses, phone numbers, and contact information across the internet.
Lies targeting children’s hospitals in Boston and Phoenix come as right-wing attacks on LGBTQ communities, in particular, are increasing. The attacks equate same-sex marriage, health care for trans people and youth, and even drag shows and drag queen story hour at local libraries with pedophilia and “grooming.” Back in June, white nationalists stormed a library where a drag queen was reading to children.
The right-wing moral panic framing LGBTQ rights and health care as an existential threat to children and families is surging. And as right-wing influencers double down on their attacks on children’s hospitals, it’s increasingly clear the goal here is to get someone seriously hurt.