A former case worker from the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital testified on Monday in the trial challenging Missouri’s restrictions on gender-affirming care. Jamie Reed, who worked at the center for over four years, was called as the first witness by the state during the two-week trial focusing on the law’s constitutionality.
Reed’s accounts of her time at the pediatric gender clinic sparked a legislative effort to ban gender-affirming care for minors.
Her public statements and sworn affidavit about her experiences led to a broader investigation by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office into practitioners across the state.
As a fact witness, Reed shared insights about her experiences but was not qualified to speak as an expert. Much of the questioning focused on the records she maintained, which included patient information.
Under the 2023 law, health care providers are prohibited from prescribing new gender-affirming medications to minors or referring them for surgery.
Additionally, the state’s Medicaid program cannot cover gender-affirming medical care for anyone, regardless of age. In July 2023, a lawsuit was filed by transgender Missourians, their families, and health care providers, arguing that the law is unconstitutional due to its discriminatory nature.
During the trial, some plaintiffs testified that their medical record numbers and treatment information were included in a document Reed shared with Attorney General Andrew Bailey and a reporter. One plaintiff, identified as J.K., expressed confusion and concern about his daughter’s information being disclosed without consent. He stated, It’s confusing and mystifying… I have no idea what this person is up to.
Another plaintiff, a college student named Elliott, who received care at the Transgender Center as a teenager, expressed fear that the attorney general possessed information about their medical history.
I don’t know what they’ll do with that information, Elliott said, emphasizing their belief that the state should not be involved in their identity as a transgender person.
Elliott also criticized Reed’s affidavit, which they felt contained details specific enough to potentially identify them. Reed defended her statements, claiming that the portions of her affidavit referenced multiple patients and that the data she shared was not intended to violate privacy laws.
Reed acknowledged sending a document containing patient medical record numbers to Bailey but argued that the information was not private because it did not directly identify individuals without a corresponding key.
She indicated that this data was shared after receiving a subpoena, along with information provided to a reporter from the New York Times.
Reed had kept a “red-flag list” of patients she was concerned about, based on her belief that too many children were receiving cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers. This list included the names of 27 patients and was also sent to Bailey.
Later, Reed testified about a letter she sent to Bailey in April 2024, after her employment ended, which indicated that the Transgender Center was accepting new patients despite claims to the contrary.
Now the executive director of the LGBT Courage Coalition, a nonprofit opposing gender-affirming care for minors, Reed recently participated in an event at the American Academy of Pediatrics convention in Florida. While described as a peaceful protest, she did not label it as such during her testimony.
Reed refrained from commenting on whether she supports gender-affirming care for adults, citing changes in her personal life, including her spouse’s decision to stop testosterone treatments.
This change was highlighted in a recent article published by The Free Press, the same outlet that initially featured Reed as a whistleblower in February 2023.