Texas Surgeon Leaks Records and Will Get Away With It

Texas surgeon Eithan Haim leaked records about gender-affirming services being performed on minors to a conservative activist while only partially redacting patients’ names. After admitting to disclosing minors’ medical records and being charged with four felonies, The Department of Justice dropped the case and Judge David Hittner dismissed the case with prejudice. This means that the federal government cannot file any other charges against him relating to this case.

Haim claims himself a “whistle-blower” and leaked Texas Children’s Hospital’s records to conservative activist Christopher Rufo who then published an article “exposing” the hospital for performing gender-affirming care on its patients. Although the hospital had made a statement claiming the halting of these practices, the procedures were still legal at the time of the article’s publishing and were legal until several months later. Haim gained sympathy for his case from republicans like Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri after telling social media that his case should be dropped now that Biden is no longer in office. He referred to himself and abortion protesters as “political enemies” of the “Biden regime.” Another post from anti-LGBTQ+ group Libs of Tik Tok also gained traction after begging Trump to “halt the political prosecution of Dr. Eithan Haim,” claiming “Biden’s DOJ criminally charged him for exposing the truth.”

The thing about projection is usually the ones projecting are doing the very thing they claim others are doing. While the Trump administration has been issuing attacks on the LGBTQ community since the moment he stepped into office, anti-LGBTQ groups argue that it is their own communities being prosecuted. People who work in DEI departments, disabled folks, migrant workers, and LGBTQ community members are defending themselves from a barrage unleashed by the current and previous administrations (let’s not forget Roe v. Wade was overturned under Biden) while hateful, bigoted individuals get off scot-free after committing actual crimes. This obvious upholding of white supremacy and fascism is not surprising, but it’s hard not to feel incredulous at the garishness or obviousness of it all. They’re not even pretending to care for the people anymore.

Remember to use your resources, reach out to your loved ones, and stay in touch with your communities. We still have each one another and we don’t pretend to defend each other.