Before I get to it, I just want to thank everyone who indulged the piece on my son yesterday, and for all the lovely and supportive comments. It wasn’t something I was particularly excited about writing because I am incredibly superstitious and terrified of jinxing the situation (you have no idea how much wood I knock on), but D said that since his siblings got a piece, once he made it past a year, he deserved a piece, too.

The upside is that I don’t have to hide that part of my life anymore, which is a relief. To wit: Having basically lived for two months in Boston Children’s Hospital, which saved my son’s life, I am heartbroken about the barrage of threats they are receiving right now. One weird thing I loved about BCH unrelated to medicine is that right before shift changes, you can go outside and watch literally hundreds of nurses and other medical workers walk in and nearly every one of them is carrying a cup of coffee. There’s a Starbucks in the lobby of the hospital, and there are two Starbucks immediately across the street, and they are packed. They must serve hundreds of gallons of coffee every day so that these people can maintain their energy for 12-hour shifts taking care of kids, which is to say: Not all heroes wear scrubs.

Right now, BCH is overrun with threats and harassment from right-wing groups for doing their job, which is to save the lives of children. They’re being threatened because they provide gender-affirming care for young adults. They do not — as these right-wing hate groups suggest — provide genital surgery on anyone under the age of 18 (although, yes, they do provide breast surgery on a small number of young people over the age of 15 and with parental consent).

Typical of these right-wing groups, they couch their violence and harassment under the guise of caring for the very same kids they will threaten and harass once they turn 18. This is not about the kids. F**k off, and take care of your own children. This is about transphobia and hate and ignorance.

Leading the way here is LibsofTikTok, a right-wing social media account run by Chaya Raichik — who has a lot of “I want to talk to you manager” energy — that specifically targets the LGBT community. This is the account that started calling LGBT people “groomers.” It’s the account that targets teachers for harassment, and it has been responsible for spreading a lot of hate and misinformation about the LGBT community. Ironically, Chaya Raichik often complains that she’s the victim, that she’s being targetted for harassment when she runs a social media account designed to target, threaten, and harass people whose business is none of her own. Live your own life, lady, and stop monetizing your hate. These far-right assholes sure like to talk about freedom until it involves decisions other people make about their own bodies.

The harassment campaign of LibsofTikTok (which has had its TikTok account suspended) has been so pervasive and so full of misinformation, and has inspired so many threats from far-right groups to “execute doctors” that Facebook finally maybe stepped in last night. According to Raichik, Facebook permanently disabled their account for “violating Community Standards.” The page is still up, although Raichik claims that she can no longer post on it.

Our page is back up on Facebook but we are still locked out and were last told that it's permanent. Perhaps it was just an "error." Will update you all

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 18, 2022

Twitter, which has suspended the account twice in the past, unfortunately still allows LibsofTikTok to post despite just how reprehensible it is that the account is targeting a children’s hospital where children with life-threatening illnesses are being treated. How deep must your hate run to put the lives of pediatric doctors and nurses at risk?