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The federal health department released what it described as a “comprehensive review” of pediatric gender dysphoria – advocating for therapy instead of medical care for youth whose gender identity does not match their assigned sex.
The 409-page report claimed that while the harms of such medical treatment are “sparse”, medical treatment should be avoided in favor of therapy for youth diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
“Our duty is to protect our nation’s children – not expose them to unproven and irreversible medical interventions,” said Dr Jay Bhattacharya, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) director. “We must follow the gold standard of science, not activist agendas.”
The report contradicts the guidance of America’s largest medical associations, including the American Medical Association, which urged state governments to “stop interfering in the healthcare of transgender children”. A study published this year found gender-affirming care is rare among US youth, with fewer than one in 1,000 children receiving hormones or puberty blockers.
The review is in response to one of the first executive orders signed by the president, titled: “Protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation,” which called for a review of evidence by the health department within 90 days.
“Evidence for harms associated with pediatric medical transition in systematic reviews is … sparse, but this finding should be interpreted with caution,” the report states.
“Inadequate harm detection in pediatric gender medicine may reflect the relatively short period of time since the widespread adoption of the medical/surgical treatment model; the failure of existing studies to systematically track and report harms; and publication bias.”
The report did not address medical treatment for transgender adults, nor did it contain clinical guidance or policy recommendations. Although the health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, pledged “radical transparency” for the health department, authors of the report were not disclosed.
The report comes from an administration hostile to the LGBTQ+ community and transgender people in particular. In his first days in office, Trump issued executive orders establishing the official US government position as acknowledging two genders and rescinding multiple orders that protected transgender individuals in arenas of society from education and healthcare to military service.
Additionally, the administration has directed the NIH to cancel nearly every project studying transgender people and instead focus on “regret” after transition. The administration has gone so far as to cancel even relatively small contracts with the federal government, for example defunding the LGBTQ+ suicide hotline.
The report’s recommendation supports the position of more than half of right-leaning US states that have banned such treatments. Nearly 40% of all transgender youth live in such states, according to the Human Rights Campaign, including many of the same that have banned or restricted abortion.
“A report suggesting that someone’s authentic self and who they are can be ‘changed’ is discredited junk science,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO of Glaad, a leading LGBTQ+ advocacy group. “This so-called guidance is grossly misleading and in direct contrast to the recommendation of every leading health authority in the world.”
Ellis continued: “This report amounts to nothing more than forcing the same discredited idea of conversion therapy that ripped families apart and harmed gay, lesbian, and bisexual young people for decades.”
