Copyright M Live Michigan
ANN ARBOR, MI — JJ McKillop, leader of the LGBTQ+ teenage group True Hope, was willing to bear about 45-degree temperatures Wednesday in Ann Arbor to protest her alma mater. McKillop, a parent of a transgender child and 1994 graduate of the University of Michigan, said she is “ashamed” by Michigan Medicine’s August decision to end gender-affirming care for minors. “UM has done so much better than this in the past,” McKillop, 56, of Whitmore Lake, said. “Leaving the kids in the dust of a political decision is embarrassing and wrong.” McKillop joined more than 15 people picketing Wednesday, Nov. 12, outside the new $920 million University of Michigan hospital. Protesters held signs that read “Fight trans oppression” and “Whose care is next...?” outside the third-floor windows as attendees gathered in the front lobby to celebrate the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Health Care Pavilion, 1315 E. Ann St. “It just broke my heart to hear that UM had decided to stop giving gender-affirming care to trans kids,” McKillop said. UM’s medical arm announced Aug. 25 it would no longer provide hormonal therapies or puberty-blocking medications to people under 19. Officials cited a federal subpoena and “escalating external threats and risks.” Mary Masson, senior director of public relations at Michigan Medicine, wrote that UM Health’s gender services care “always involves compassionate, individualized support for each patient.” “We recognize the gravity and impact of our recent decision to discontinue pediatric gender affirming care for our patients and our community,” Masson wrote. “We have worked closely with and will continuously support the well-being of our patients, their families, and our care teams.” The decision has frustrated many parents and Washtenaw County community members. Read more: ‘We thought we had a plan’ Parents of trans youth angry about Michigan Medicine decision Margaret Weiss, the parent of a transgender individual, said she is upset UM is capitulating to the Trump administration, “which is behaving in a bullying manner.” Weiss, 59, said UM needs to reinstate gender-affirming care for youth because “it’s a human rights concern.” “The university is willing to spend millions of dollars and they claim they don’t have the money to fight the administration,” Weiss, of Ann Arbor, said. “This denial of health care to a segment of individuals, it’s discrimination.” More than 30 organizers previously gathered Sept. 18 outside the UM Board of Regents meeting at the university’s Ruthven Administration Building on North University Avenue to protest Michigan Medicine’s decision. Regent Paul Brown has been a vocal opponent of the August decision. Brown, who has a transgender family member, said he has continuously asked UM and the Board of Regents when the university can restore gender-affirming care for children and young adults. Read more: Ending gender-affirming care for children is ‘embarrassing,’ University of Michigan regent says Lauren Gaboury, an organizer with the Huron Valley Democratic Socialists of America, criticized UM for spending $920 million to build the new hospital while not being “able to defend gender-affirming care from federal subpoenas.” “We are here to provide this counter-narrative and let the university know that we believe they should be using all of their resources in this fight to protect trans kids and their care because we know that this is just the first step,” Gaboury, 32, of Ypsilanti, said. “There is just not enough care in this state to supplement what has been lost.” Gaboury said the university “took the bait” and they encourage students, alumni, donors, employees and other UM community members to hold the university accountable. Michigan Medicine administrators unveiled the 12-story hospital pavilion in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday. The hospital, under construction since about 2019 and in the works for more than a decade, will add 690,000 square feet, including 20 surgical and three interventional radiology suites, to the university health system’s main medical campus, Michigan Medicine officials said. Read more: Long-awaited University of Michigan Pavilion hospital to accept patients by end of year Dr. David Miller, chief executive officer of Michigan Medicine, said the new hospital will start taking in patients by the end of the year.
