{"id":228996,"date":"2026-03-20T19:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T19:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/228996\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T19:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T19:46:10","slug":"families-file-lawsuit-against-rady-childrens-health-citing-discrimination-against-trans-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/228996\/","title":{"rendered":"Families file lawsuit against Rady Children\u2019s Health, citing discrimination against trans youth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the jungle! California\u2019s electoral system puts the top two winning candidates in the nonpartisan June 2 primary into an expensive slugfest to replace termed-out Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom in November. As of the March 6 filing deadline, at least 10 candidates will be on the ballot, with the\u00a0New York Times on March 8 posting ten political polls from Dec. 2025 to Feb. 20<\/a>\u00a0showing two well-funded MAGA Republicans topping the large swath of vote-splitting Democrats.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Republicans have a chance in California governor\u2019s race,\u201d reads a\u00a0Los Angeles Times headline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But with a constant barrage of news, distractions from the\u00a0Trump-Epstein files scandal<\/a>,\u00a0and politicking with Prop 50 redistricting forcing local Republicans like anti-LGBTQ+ Rep. Darrell Issa to\u00a0not seek reelection<\/a>, many overwhelmed prospective voters rely on the myth that California is a deeply blue Democratic state forever.<\/p>\n

But that depends on turnout. During the horrific second wave of AIDS from 1990-1998, California was politically dominated by the elitist rich and Bible-thumping, knuckle-dragging, radically anti-gay religious right Christians \u2013 the heirs of whom now hustle to bless Donald Trump whenever they are summoned.<\/p>\n

\"\"Graph courtesy of Real Clear Politics<\/p>\n

Today, LGBTQ+ Californians face a heartbreakingly huge problem. While grateful for past support from the Democratic gubernatorial candidates, this is a new amoral era of Trumpism with a\u00a0Project 2025 administration of white supremacists and Christian nationalists<\/a>\u00a0determined to kill the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act and all things LGBTQ+. And Republicans have millions to gaslight voters into believing slick campaigns of lies that could result in a run-off between Republicans Steve Hilton, a Fox News contributor, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.<\/p>\n

Democrats are not handling this well. Congressional Democrats stand up for their history-making trans colleague Rep. Sarah McBride and laud out Rep. Robert Garcia of Long Beach as Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee and leader on the Epstein investigations.<\/p>\n

But more Democrats are listening to messaging from David Axelrod, James Carville, and David Plouffe, \u201curging\u00a0Democrats<\/a>\u00a0to act a little more like\u00a0Republicans<\/a>\u00a0on so-called \u2018identity and cultural issues,\u2019\u201d as\u00a0a trans journalist wrote in The Advocate last October<\/a>. While their report \u201crarely defines which \u2018cultural issues\u2019 it means, the few times it does make it clear:\u00a0queer<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0transgender<\/a>\u00a0people stand to lose the most if this vision of the Democratic Party takes hold.\u201d<\/p>\n

So it was uncomfortably noticeable how oddly old-fashioned several candidates seemed at the\u00a0Equality California and LA LGBT Center Gubernatorial Candidate Forum<\/a>\u00a0on March 2. They touted experience that may no longer be applicable to agencies and systems broken by DOGE and Trump\u2019s manic White Christian National administration.<\/p>\n

To be sure, these principled candidates have taken heat for us. But so did Gov. Gavin Newsom when he defied the Democratic Party to advocate for marriage equality. Recently, he threw us under the bus.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the prism of purely politics, there\u2019s no doubt that the Democratic party needs to be \u2013 dare I say \u2013 more culturally normal,\u201d Newsom said in\u00a0response to CNN about what Democrats need to do to win elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Let that sink in. \u201cIdentity politics\u201d is at the core of every civil rights movement \u2013 an understanding that took\u00a0decades of work for the California Democratic Party to grasp<\/a>. Identity politics provides a specific context for the inequality and unfairness vulnerable people and communities experience in everyday life.<\/p>\n

Affordability? \u201cFood deserts\u201d are found largely in urban neighborhoods, not Beverly Hills. And if you\u2019re a single Black or Brown woman with kids whose queer appearance or DEI-laden application is a barrier to employment and housing \u2013 how are you supposed to take care of your family?<\/p>\n

\u201cCulturally normal\u201d is code for whatever powerful white, straight men determine it is. Do queer women of color even qualify as \u201cwelfare queens<\/a>?\u201d Check the\u00a0Williams Institute to see how it\u2019s worse for trans<\/a>\u00a0folk.<\/p>\n

\"\"Via: CNN story on Jewish students\u2019 fears (2021)<\/p>\n

But remember: White Christian nationalists have their \u201cculturally normal\u201d identity politics, too. That\u2019s why angry white men with tiki torches screamed \u201cJews will not replace us!\u201d<\/a>\u00a0at a 2017 rally where a Confederate statue was toppled.<\/p>\n

\u201cDEI\u201d was not mentioned once during the forum, though each candidate rebuked Newsom\u2019s comment. (Please\u00a0watch the complete KNBC4 video of the forum<\/a>\u00a0for views and nuances.) Former California State Controller Betty Yee suggested they were looking for an excuse to explain why Kamala Harris lost the Nov. 2024 election. The LGBTQ community was thrown under the bus because \u201cwe weren\u2019t speaking to the issues that everyday people are experiencing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Renee Good shortly before she was shot, as seen in the DHS agent\u2019s video of the incident (via Wikipedia)<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s the problem. Many political Democrats still see intersectional LGBTQ+ people as an issue \u2013 but we\u2019re everyday people, too. Ask the wife, friends, and family of Minnesota lesbian mom of three, Renee Good, 37, a US citizen murdered by ICE while protesting Trump\u2019s mass immigration deportation policy. Shortly after her killing, DHS Sec.\u00a0Kristi Noem called her a \u201cdomestic terrorist\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a lie for which she still has not apologized to Good\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

To paraphrase\u00a0abolitionist leader Sojourner Truth<\/a>: Ain\u2019t we everyday people, too?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

California\u2019s LGBTQ+ Gubernatorial Forum with Equality California and Los Angeles LGBT Center \/ Screenshot from Telemundo<\/p>\n

Yee knows. \u201cOur LGBTQ+ community and our transgender siblings are a part of the fabric of California. And I speak from this as a woman of color, as a woman of Chinese American descent, where we have been a target in the past,\u201d Lee said at the forum, adding that \u201cbeing inclusive and supportive of all of our communities\u2026is the hallmark of California.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because LGBTQ+ people are not \u201cculturally normal\u201d enough to be politically useful, we are being erased by the Democrats just as\u00a0racist candidate Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0promised to do for his Project 2025 backers: \u201cThe path back to national unity is to decisively win the culture wars<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the rub: Yee ranks between 2%-5% in the polls, with\u00a0Rep. Eric Swalwell<\/a>,\u00a0former Rep. Katie Porter<\/a>, and progressive\u00a0billionaire Tom Steyer<\/a>\u00a0jockeying for the lead.<\/p>\n

Former California Attorney General and US Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, and former L.A. mayor and Speaker of the California State Assembly Antonio Villaraigosa make up about 30% of the surveyed voters. At some point, if these lower polling candidates don\u2019t realistically see a path to victory, they need to ask themselves: Ask not what California can do for you \u2013 but what you can do for California.<\/p>\n

After all, we remember Ralph Nader as a\u00a0self-obsessed 2000 election spoiler<\/a>, not as the\u00a0founder of the nation\u2019s consumer rights movement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another problem with candidates seeing LGBTQ+ people as an inconvenient issue and not a constituency is that, other than Eric Swawell, there seemed to be no real understanding of the impact of the Iran War on us as real Californians.<\/p>\n

All the candidates were asked a version of this question: Given the number of military bases here in California, active duty, reserves, and National Guard. And LA having the largest population of Iranians outside the country, \u201cthis war affects so many people here in California. As governor, would you prioritize speaking out on foreign policy?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Moderators Colleen Williams of KNBC-TV and Dustin Gardner of Politico with Rep. Eric Swawell at the Candidates forum (Via: KNBC4)<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, first, for this room, we have to acknowledge that in Iran, most of us would not be accepted and some of us would not be alive,\u201d Swalwell said. \u201cAnd the Iranian diaspora is some of the biggest dreamers in California because they dream of a place where women can drive freely and dress the way they want to dress, and everyone can vote openly. So, I understand why they would celebrate a brutal dictator no longer being around. However, I also understand that we have a long history of going into the Middle East without a plan, trying to change a regime and always, always failing and losing a lot of American soldiers along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the Middle East and Iran, [Trump] doesn\u2019t even have a concept of a plan,\u201d Swalwell said.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve had our freedom rattled before. The 53rd\u00a0Primetime Emmy Awards were cancelled twice after the Sept. 11, 2001, Taliban terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Then, on Nov. 4, 2001, after a reassuring opening by former\u00a0CBS Evening News anchor Walter Cronkite<\/a>, out comedienne Ellen DeGeneres reset the nation\u2019s mood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt it was important for me to be here tonight because our leaders have told us to get back to our jobs,\u201d\u00a0she said<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m in a unique position as host, because think about it. What would bug the Taliban more than seeing a gay woman in a suit surrounded by Jews?\u201d<\/p>\n

That may have been one of the last times the nation exploded in unified laughter. After that came numbness, fear, distrust, and \u201cthe seeds for today\u2019s thicket of misinformation,\u201d according to a Poynter Institute\u00a0Politifact report.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cThe attacks and their aftermath also helped reshape, and in some ways turbocharge, the misinformation and conspiracy theory industry \u2014 encouraging people to turn to the internet for answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Twin Towers burn on 9-11-2001. (Photo via WikiCommons)<\/p>\n

Some of the resulting distrust was well-deserved:\u00a0the National Security Agency knew about the 9\/11 attacks<\/a>\u00a0before they happened. \u201cWe know now that our inability to detect and prevent the Sept. 11 attacks was an intelligence failure of unprecedented magnitude,\u201d Sen.\u00a0Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said after the 2002 release<\/a>\u00a0of a joint House-Senate inquiry report.<\/p>\n

Eighteen years later, in 2020,\u00a0I reported on Trump\u2019s first threat of war\u00a0<\/a>after he ordered the drone strike assassination of Iranian bad guy Gen. Qassim Soleimani \u2013 something even the Israelis had declined to do, fearing unpredictable and uncontrollable retaliation. Trump stepped back from the brink, but people were unnerved.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels to me that the [Iranian Islamic] mullahs have been strengthened in this situation more than anything, which is not good for the people of Iran who want to be free of this oppressive regime,\u201d said West Hollywood-based Iranian-American lesbian attorney Sepi Shyne.<\/p>\n

With nearly\u00a0800 US military bases<\/a>\u00a0around the world, between 60,000 and 70,000 US troops stationed throughout the Middle East, and their families \u2013 including ours \u2013 waited for reaction to Soleimani\u2019s assassination.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our military families are expressing a real sense of tiredness, dread, and sadness over the latest developments in the Middle East,\u201d said Stephen L. Peters II,\u00a0a Marine veteran and Director of Communications and Marketing for Modern Military Association of America.<\/p>\n

Jessica Stern, executive director of OutRight Action International,\u00a0issued a warning<\/a>: \u201cIn times of war, majorities scapegoat minorities, and the result is increased verbal and physical hatred toward those of us who are LGBTIQ, women, people of color, immigrants, or members of religious or ethnic minorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Sepi Shyne and then wife Ashlei Shyne (Photo courtesy: Shyne)<\/p>\n

Shyne, who later became the first out Iranian-American Mayor of West Hollywood, also noted that \u201cpeople now in Iran are becoming united against a common enemy, which is now the Trump administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

This Iran War, Operation Epic Fury, started on Feb. 28, 2026, with\u00a0Israel\u2019s surprise Blue Sparrow ballistic missile attack that killed Ayatollah Khamenei<\/a>\u00a0and his top deputies, a blast so significant that debris was found in western Iraq.<\/p>\n

The next day, after an Islamic\u00a0radical shot up an Austin bar<\/a>, Homeland Security\u00a0issued a warning<\/a>: \u201cAlthough a large-scale physical attack is unlikely, Iran and its proxies probably pose a persistent threat of \u200btargeted attacks in the Homeland, and will almost certainly escalate retaliatory actions \u2014 or calls to action,\u201d as well as attacking US targets in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

The DHS warning put LA city officials on alert, but with \u201cno intelligence\u201d of any terror threat ahead of Sunday\u2019s March 8 event,\u00a027,000 runners shared a historic race<\/a>\u00a0as American Nathan Martin edged Kenya\u2019s Michael Kimani Kamau by 00.01 seconds \u2013 the closest finish in L.A. Marathon history.<\/p>\n

The Marathon was scheduled early to avoid conflict with the Academy Awards on March 15 in Hollywood.<\/p>\n

But who\u2019s minding the intelligence? Trump thankfully fired DHS Sec. Kristi Noem, but he wants to replace her with a sycophantic loyalist.<\/p>\n

And just days before the launch of the Iran War, FBI Director Kash Patel fired \u201ca dozen agents and staff members from a counterintelligence unit [CI-12] tasked with monitoring threats from Iran,\u201d including \u201ctracking foreign spies operating on US soil,\u201d\u00a0CNN reported March 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, March 7, Trump\u00a0said Iran \u201cwill be hit very hard\u201d today<\/a>, with new areas of the country under consideration for \u201ccomplete destruction and certain death.\u201d NBC News reported that Trump may\u00a0put boots on the ground<\/a>\u00a0after\u00a0lawmakers declined to restrict<\/a>\u00a0his war powers. And there still appears to be no evacuation plans as the war expands.<\/p>\n

Tehran, meanwhile, is looking for\u00a0new US assets to strike<\/a>\u00a0in response,\u00a0a senior Iranian official told CNN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Is the\u00a0Port of Long Beach safe<\/a>? Is someone checking to see\u00a0whether the daily $1 billion Iran War price tag is accurate<\/a>? Is the war really supposed to level out\u00a0surging gas prices<\/a>\u00a0and higher food prices, even with a\u00a0February jobs report<\/a>\u00a0showing 92,000 lost jobs, projecting a recession<\/a>?<\/p>\n

\"\"Trump in a white baseball cap at the dignified transfer of six dead service members (Via: Manchester Evening News FB)<\/p>\n

Trump promised to lower costs and avoid war. But power-hungry\u00a0Trump has demanded an \u201cunconditional surrender\u201d<\/a>\u00a0by Iran and\u00a0told Reuters he must play a role<\/a>\u00a0in selecting the country\u2019s new leader, which hasn\u2019t happened.<\/p>\n

\"\"Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at Iran news conference (White House screenshot)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News host who\u2019s now the powerful\u00a0Christian National in charge of the Pentagon<\/a>, acts like a horny teenage gamer boasting about his cool \u201cCall of Duty\u201d kills.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re playing for keeps. Our warfighters have maximum authorities granted personally by the president and yours truly,\u201d\u00a0The New Republic reported<\/a>. \u201cOur rules of engagement are bold, precise, and designed to unleash American power, not shackle it. This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they\u2019re down, which is exactly how it should be.\u201d He \u201cproudly crowed<\/a>\u201d about \u201cno politically correct wars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apparently,\u00a0\u201cend-times\u201d Christian commanders at<\/a>\u00a0military posts are equally excited.<\/p>\n

\u201cA combat-unit commander told non-commissioned officers at a briefing Monday that the Iran war is part of God\u2019s plan and that President Donald Trump was \u2018anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,\u2019 according to a complaint by a non-commissioned officer,\u201d independent journalist\u00a0Jonathan Larsen reported on his Substack<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the first 72 hours of the war, the\u00a0Military Religious Freedom Foundation<\/a>\u00a0(MRFF) received more than 110 similar complaints from more than 40 different units across at least 30 military installations, Larson reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States is waging a religious war. This is, at least, how dozens of fanatical U.S. military commanders understand President Donald Trump\u2019s illegal assault on Iran: a messianic battle to bring about Jesus Christ\u2019s return,\u201d\u00a0The Intercept reported March 5<\/a>.<\/p>\n

California\u00a0has the nation\u2019s largest military population<\/a>, with over 157,000 active-duty personnel and more than 800,000 veterans; 44 military installations; contributes over\u00a0$90 billion annually to the California economy, and provides over 700,000 jobs.<\/p>\n

Have any of the gubernatorial candidates talked with military leaders in the state or DHS, or the FBI? Since both Christian nationals and the Islamic Republic hate gays, guess who gets to be the first fodder in a ground war? And with Trump and Hegseth\u2019s childish antipathy toward California, guess who\u2019ll get called up first? So, who do you want fighting back against that?<\/p>\n

As journalist Mehdi Hasan writes in his piece \u201cA Holy War Against Iran<\/a>?\u201d \u2013 \u201cRemember: once messianic leaders start insisting that God is on their side in battle, making peace becomes almost impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n

What happens to everyday people, then?<\/p>\n

This essay is cross-posted from Karen Ocamb\u2019s Substack, LGBTQ+ Freedom Fighters<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to the jungle! California\u2019s electoral system puts the top two winning candidates in the nonpartisan June 2…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228997,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[104030,163,165,164,9778,7,80615,93,4297,104031,104032,104033,611,81393,104034,74,104035,77139,104036],"class_list":["post-228996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-amy-whelan","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-attorney-general-rob-bonta","tag-california","tag-childrens-hospital-of-orange-county","tag-featured","tag-gender-affirming-care","tag-impact-fund","tag-lgbtq-youth-mental-health","tag-national-center-for-lgbtq-rights","tag-orange-county","tag-rady-childrens-health","tag-rady-childrens-hospital-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-shannon-minter","tag-transgender-youth","tag-western-center-on-law-poverty"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}