Seven people who previously provided gender-affirming care at Children’s Hospital Colorado will have to testify in a contempt-of-court hearing in September, but a judge is allowing them to shield their identities from the public.
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In May, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in favor of families who sued after Children’s Hospital in Aurora halted gender-affirming care for their transgender kids and teens, following a threat from the Trump administration to cut federal funding to facilities that offer that care to minors.
The justices instructed a Denver district judge to order the hospital to resume prescribing puberty blockers and hormones as needed for gender dysphoria — distress when one’s sense of self doesn’t match what others see. Children’s does not perform gender-affirming surgeries on minors.
The hospital said it had complied, but that none of its medical providers were willing to risk being targeted by the federal government for providing gender-affirming care. The plaintiffs argued Children’s was in contempt, because the ordered services aren’t actually available.
The providers, who used Greek letters as pseudonyms in court filings, aren’t facing contempt citations themselves, but will have to testify at the Sept. 10 contempt hearing. On Thursday, the group asked Judge Ericka Englert to file a protective order hiding their names and any other identifying information from the public, as well as not showing their faces to the public during their video testimony.
The doctors, and possibly others with prescribing authority, said they would face increased federal pressure, as well as the possibility of death threats from people who don’t agree with how they treated transgender children, if their identities became public.
“The climate in which this lawsuit is occurring changes daily and is hostile. Providers who have provided gender-affirming care in health systems similar to Children’s had their medical staff privileges permanently revoked as part of a settlement with the (U.S.) Department of Justice,” the providers’ motion said.
Children’s spokeswoman Rachael Fowler said the hospital supports the providers’ safety and privacy, and hasn’t objected to suppressing their identities.
Paula Greisen, who is representing the plaintiffs, raised objections to some of the providers’ specific requests, such as that the court prevent attorneys from asking about their backgrounds. She said she didn’t oppose allowing them to use pseudonyms, however.
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“The patients and the medical providers who have given them life-saving medical care are all the victims of the federal administration’s witch hunt against the transgender community. They should all be respected and protected from harm,” she said in a statement.
Englert granted the motion to suppress the providers’ identities Saturday. She also allowed the plaintiffs to act as a class, on behalf of all transgender children who sought gender-affirming care through the hospital, or would have done if it hadn’t halted those services.
Greisen said more than 1,000 young people are no longer able to receive care, so acting as a class makes sense. Children’s gender-care program had 1,140 patients in 2025, including 257 who received puberty blockers and 549 taking hormone therapy, according to court documents.
Younger children only undergo monitoring for signs of puberty, so they can decide whether to start blockers.
Knowing the scope of the class will allow the hospital to evaluate its next legal steps, Fowler said.
“Our focus remains on caring for children and supporting our patients and families during what we know is a stressful and uncertain time,” she said in a statement.
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