An appeals court has ruled in favor of Dr. Allan Josephson, an honorable child psychiatrist who expressed his opinion that children with sexual identity confusion should not be given experimental, irreversible, body-damaging drugs, hormones and surgeries. Officials at the University of Louisville demoted and ostracized him for propounding these sensible beliefs, eventually demanding his resignation.
The court said his case against university officials who violated his freedom of speech can move forward, Alliance Defending Freedom reported.
ADF Senior Counsel Travis Barham said of the victory:
Public universities have no business punishing professors simply because they hold different views than a few colleagues or administrators.
In 2017 Dr. Josephson spoke at a Heritage Foundation symposium, “Gender Dysphoria in Children: Understanding the Science and Medicine.” At the time, he was the Division Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of Louisville, holding the position for nearly 15 years.
In addition to this work, Dr. Josephson also provided expert testimony, on his own time, in court cases about gender-confused children and youth who reject their biological sex and believe they are the opposite sex. He participated in the Heritage panel as a private citizen with expertise in the treatment of children with mental health issues, not as a representative of the university.
Dr. Josephson spoke against “socially transitioning” young children, allowing them to live as if they were the opposite sex, then moving them toward damaging, aggressive interventions like puberty suppressing drugs and opposite-sex hormones.
Instead, he believes that these interventions rely on false ideas and don’t treat confused children’s underlying issues, the ADF complaint explains.
For expressing those beliefs, University of Louisville officials demoted and harassed him over the next two years. The complaint against the university officials says:
Defendants demoted Dr. Josephson in November 2017 – just seven weeks after his Heritage Foundation presentation and less than four weeks after first expressing any concerns to Dr. Josephson – to the role of a junior faculty member.
In the following months, they continued to belittle and berate him; inflicted irreparable damage to his professional career and reputation; and reduced his salary, retirement benefits, and academic travel funds. Then, in February 2019, to add insult to injury, they announced that they would not renew his contract, effectively terminating him.
ADF filed a federal lawsuit on Dr. Josephson’s behalf, alleging that university officials violated his First Amendment rights, discriminating and retaliating against him because of his sensible, compassionate approach to children struggling with accepting their bodily sex.
Finally, after five years of court battles and appeals for dismissal by the university, Dr. Josephson can have his day in court.
The lawsuit explains that, as a participant in the symposium, Dr. Josephson explained key issues about transgenderism in children, such as:
- Gender dysphoria is a socio-cultural, psychological phenomenon, and cannot be fully addressed through medicine and surgery. Using these methods raises concerns that the real issue is not being treated.
- The notion that gender identity should trump chromosomes, hormones, internal reproductive organs, external genitalia, and secondary sex characteristics when classifying individuals is counter to medical science.
- Children persistently, insistently, and consistently demand many things that are not good for them. A parent’s role is to resist these demands when parental wisdom trumps children’s limited life experience.
The lawsuit explains:
Dr. Josephson emphasized that these youth need treatment and help, that he and his fellow panelists deeply respect their patients who face gender dysphoria, but that outside advocacy groups have silenced efforts to explore what types of treatments these youth need.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit affirmed a lower court decision which stated that university officials did not have the right to immunity of prosecution:
Josephson has shown that he engaged in protected speech when he spoke as part of the Heritage Foundation panel. Defendants should have known that Josephson’s speech was protected and that retaliating against Josephson for his speech would violate his First Amendment rights.
Barham applauded the decision, saying:
The court’s decision affirms that basic truth. Dr. Josephson had a long and distinguished career at the University of Louisville, leading and rebuilding its child psychiatry program. On his own time, he spoke about treatments for children struggling with their sex, and the University punished him for expressing his opinion.
That’s exactly what the First Amendment prohibits, and when public universities disregard our nation’s highest law, they must be held accountable. We look forward to continuing to protect Dr. Josephson’s clearly established right to free speech and reminding all public universities that they are marketplaces of ideas.
Related articles and resources:
Counseling for Sexual Identity Concerns: A Measured, Careful, and Compassionate approach – A Focus on the Family statement regarding professional therapies.
Helping Children with Gender Identity Confusion – This question-and-answer document offers guidance for parents or family members faced with questions about gender confusion in a child they know and love.
Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria – Researcher’s Work Vindicated
Focus on the Family: Transgender Resources
When Transgender Issues Enter Your World – This free, downloadable resource offers guidance for how to respond well when transgender issues affect your child’s school, your private space, or your family.
Image credit: ADF.
