A patient who checked into the emergency room of a Texas hospital has gone viral on TikTok for sharing the questions they were asked when they arrived.
Gin Rogers, 30, recently returned to her home state of Texas after living in different areas of the United States for the past 12 years. But a recent experience at the Houston Methodist Hospital left Rogers, who is non-binary and uses both she and they pronouns, feeling "very uncomfortable."
"These questions were asked without any privacy barriers and where they could be heard and observed by a good portion of people in the waiting room," Rogers told Newsweek. "Between the two people staffing the desk and anyone in the waiting room within view and earshot, there was a small audience."
Rogers shared a video to her TikTok account @dualityofgin on November 11 where they said they "feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone."
In the clip, Rogers said the receptionist told her they "legally have to ask this now," and asked if Rogers was a U.S. citizen and "what gender was I assigned at birth."
Rogers clarified they understand about having to "protect the border," but asked: "What does that have to do with hospital, medical care? If a human being is hurting and they need to receive care so they don't die?"
Gale Smith, Houston Methodist public relations director, told Newsweek: "Anytime patients are seen, patient privacy and safety are always a priority as the care team has to obtain certain patient health information to guide their care. The Texas governor recently enacted an executive order, effective November 1. When registering patients, we are required to ask if they are legal residents or not."
Smith added: "This is part of the information captured in [medical software] Epic. A patient can answer yes, no or decline to answer. We will then report the total numbers on a quarterly basis. This does not change how we provide care and should have no impact on our patients."
In August 2024, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order directing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHCS) to collect information and report on what he called the "healthcare costs for illegal immigrants" in Texas to "hold the Biden-Harris Administration accountable for the consequences of their open border policies".
Immigration and U.S.-Mexico border security proved to be a major talking point in this year's presidential election, which was won by Donald Trump who will take office again in January 2025.
Rogers told Newsweek she found the "experience in Texas jarring," having received health care in other areas of the country and worried it could open people up to "biases," or "humiliation" or "harassment" in a hospital's waiting room.
She understands, she says, that information on gender "can be helpful for a diagnosis" but "asking them publicly in a waiting room in Texas is effectively outing trans people the moment they walk into the door," which they said could lead to a dangerous situation. Rogers said the women at the desk were "very apologetic."
"In that same vein, legal residency is not relevant to treating someone's emergency health condition unless there is some kind of alternative biology that people from other countries have that I'm not aware of," Rogers added. "Asking questions of a legal and financial nature before someone is even allowed to enter the emergency room sends a clear message about what the state of Texas' priorities are, and it's not human health, autonomy, privacy, or care."
Rogers' video went viral on TikTok, receiving over 610,000 views, and sparked a major conversation in the comments section, which Rogers says she is "surprised but grateful" about.
One TikTok user commented: "That's crazy. They went from asking us if there was anybody that made us feel unsafe to asking our legal status?"
Another user asked: "What happens if someone is unconscious arriving to the ER?"
A third posted: "You do not legally have to answer those questions. The hospital just has to ask. They still have to treat you."
Rogers and her husband are planning to leave Texas, having moved there to spend time with Rogers' family, and they revealed that their ultimate goal is to leave the U.S. entirely.
"I want to believe in the American concept, but I fear it has been overtaken by the bottom lines of a couple hundred corporations," Rogers said.
English (US) ·