Missouri AG Bailey investigating transgender care center over former employee’s allegations

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Thursday announced his office has for two weeks been investigating a St. Louis center for transgender kids after a former employee alleged that the center harmed children.

Bailey made the announcement after the website The Free Press published an article from a former employee who criticized the center — the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital — for providing gender-affirming care to young girls. The website was founded by Bari Weiss, a former New York Times columnist who frequently rallies against progressive-leaning issues.

“During my time at the center, I personally witnessed center healthcare providers lie to the public and to parents of patients about the treatment, or lack of treatment, and the effects of treatment provided to children at the center,” Jamie Reed, former case manager at the center said in an affidavit.

The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday. Multiple attempts to call the hospital were met with a busy signal.

However, Washington University in St. Louis, the university which oversees the hospital, released a statement Thursday that said it was looking into the allegations laid out in Reed’s article.

“We are alarmed by the allegations reported in the article published by The Free Press describing practices and behaviors the author says she witnessed while employed at the university’s Transgender Center,” the statement said. “We are taking this matter very seriously and have already begun the process of looking into the situation to ascertain the facts. As always, our highest priority is the health and well-being of our patients.”

Katy Erker-Lynch, executive director of PROMO Missouri, an LGBTQ advocacy group, said her organization has met with parents whose children had received ethical care at the center. The group did not have any insight into Reed’s allegations, she said.

“Through PROMO’s work, we have heard dozens upon dozens of positive personal stories from transgender and gender non-conforming youth and families about the ethic of care they’ve received throughout their time at the Washington University Transgender Center,” Erker-Lynch said in a statement.

“We’ve also sat in rooms with over 30 parents who have shared stories about how their children thrived when they received interdisciplinary, holistic care from a team of providers at the Gender Center. We have no insight into these allegations and accusations from one person.”

Bailey was sworn into office last month after being appointed by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson. His role in launching, and announcing, the investigation is another signal that the Republican plans to use the office to appeal to his conservative base, which has been pushing for more restrictions on treatments for transgender youth.

“We take this evidence seriously and are thoroughly investigating to make sure children are not harmed by individuals who may be more concerned with a radical social agenda than the health of children,” Bailey said in his announcement.

The investigation into the center comes as Republican Missouri lawmakers have filed at least 27 bills targeted at the LGBTQ community. Missouri is behind only Oklahoma, which had 32 bills filed as of Feb. 7, according to a legislation tracker from the ACLU.

Some of the Missouri bills target gender transition therapy. While Republicans have framed the issue as protecting kids, LGBTQ advocates say lawmakers have embarked on a sustained attack on the transgender community.

State Sen. Greg Razer, a Kansas City Democrat and Missouri’s only openly gay senator, said that if kids are being harmed at the hospital, he wants it to stop. But he said it seemed like convenient timing for Bailey to announce the investigation as the legislature is expected to take up bills related to transgender care.

“Am I surprised that a Republican attorney general would jump at a chance to get headlines about transgender kids? No,” he said. “But if there is something legitimately wrong going on there, I hope it’s taken care of.”

In her affidavit, Reed alleged that the center excessively provides hormone therapy to mentally ill children without first properly treating their underlying mental health issues. Reed also claimed that the center misleads the public and parents about the therapy services provided, and alleged that it prescribes hormone therapy for children without obtaining parental consent, or bullies parents into consenting.

The website for the center highlights available treatments like hormone therapy, puberty blockers and voice and speech therapy, with an emphasis on prioritizing individualized plans for each patient.

The Missouri Department of Social Services and Division of Professional Registration is also assisting the ongoing investigation, according to Bailey’s office.

Bailey’s office made the announcement shortly after Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, said his office was launching its own investigation. Hawley told The Star Thursday that he wanted to learn more about the clinic and how much federal money was going to the St. Louis hospital.

“I’m going to find out the facts first,” Hawley said. “And then we’re going to figure out if there are any crimes committed, who has the jurisdiction, what agencies are involved and the first thing would be to preserve all the documents.”

Hawley said he may just end up forwarding his findings to Bailey’s office.

This story was updated to include a statement from Washington University in St. Louis.