DENVER (KDVR) — The ACLU of Colorado says it is suing Children’s Hospital Colorado on behalf of an 18-year-old transgender patient who was denied a gender-affirming surgery.
The lawsuit claims the hospital violated Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws when it stopped providing gender-affirming surgeries in July 2023. The lawsuit was filed in Denver District Court on Wednesday, according to the document.
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According to the ACLU, the patient, who is using the pseudonym of Caden Kent for this lawsuit, had just received insurance authorization for a procedure at Children’s Hospital when the hospital adopted its new policy and refused to move forward with the surgery.
The ACLU said gender-affirming surgical care is medically necessary and sometimes life-saving for transgender people.
“CHCO’s abrupt cancellation of all gender-affirming surgeries for its trans patients was devastating to Caden, other impacted patients, and Colorado’s transgender community,” Tim Macdonald, ACLU of Colorado legal director, said in the lawsuit announcement. “Refusal to provide medically necessary care based on the identity of the person seeking it, and the condition for which they are seeking it, is discriminatory and illegal under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act.”