Families sue Southern California hospital system for withholding care from transgender youthhttps://www.advocate.com/news/rady-childrens-san-diego-lawsuit 🔗Christopher Wiggins (19 March 2026)
A group of California families is suing one of the nation's largest pediatric hospital systems, arguing that its abrupt decision to halt gender-affirming care for transgender youth was not just disruptive, but unlawful.
The class action complaint, unsealed Thursday morning in San Diego County Superior Court, accuses Rady Children's Health of discriminating against transgender patients when it moved in January to stop providing care to people under 19. That decision put roughly 1,900 young patients at risk of losing treatment.
The plaintiffs, four minors identified only by initials, represent what their attorneys describe as a broader class of families now navigating canceled appointments, uncertain access, and the possibility of traveling hundreds of miles for care that had, until weeks ago, been routine.
"The suit is filed on behalf of those families and the adolescents who are patients at Rady Hospital," National Center for LGBTQ+ Rights staff attorney Amy Whelan told The Advocate in an interview.
At the center of the case is a straightforward claim with widespread implications: that Rady's policy amounts to discrimination.
"Our lawsuit alleges that Rady's decision to terminate care for transgender patients is discrimination ... because Rady is basically deciding to stop care based on who those patients are," Whelan said. "Under California law, that's discrimination based on sex and gender identity, which is prohibited."
