The federal government has been pushing the dishonest transgender narrative that says those caught in sexual identity confusion really are the opposite sex – or some other “gender” which they identify as. Government agencies also promote a dangerous treatment model that says drugs, hormones and surgeries are necessary interventions that can somehow change a person’s body into a different “gender.”
Government spokespeople explain that this is “accepted science.”
But a government watchdog group, Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT), is exposing the naked emperor. There is no real science to support these ideas.
Just two years ago, Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Levine made a strong statement about so-called “gender-affirming care” – interventions for those caught in the deception of gender ideology.
Dr. Levine, who was born male but lives as a woman, emphatically told NPR:
There is no argument among medical professionals – pediatricians, pediatric endocrinologists, adolescent medicine physicians, adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists, etc. – about the value and the importance of gender-affirming care.
The assistant secretary made the false statement in opposition to a slew of bills in different states that protected girls and women’s sports, kept school children from being indoctrinated with gender ideology, and safeguarded minors from body-damaging transgender medical interventions.
Doubling down on the deception a year later, Dr. Levine said such legislation was “ideologically and politically motivated” and “unconscionable,” adding that the medical interventions were “medically necessary, safe and effective.”
PPT was suspicious about the “science” behind these treatments. So the organization submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, asking for “records of scientific evidence, studies, and/or data to support the Assistant Secretary’s claim that ‘gender-affirming care’ is medically necessary, safe, and effective for trans and non-binary youth.”
The watchdog group also asked for “records of surveys of medical professionals regarding the value and importance of ‘gender-affirming care’ for minor children.”
What they received was astonishing: HHS sent a two-page pamphlet, titled “Gender-Affirming Care and Young People.” The information sheet is available at the HHS’ Office of Population Affairs website and supposedly demonstrates that affirming gender confusion “improves the mental health and overall well-being of gender diverse youth.”
Lacking in true medical or scientific information, the sheet reads like propaganda for gender ideologues. It lists all the “Common Terms” – invented by transgender activists, such as “cisgender,” “gender diverse,” “gender expansive,” “nonbinary,” “sex assigned at birth,” and “gender binary” – as if these were accurate and true concepts.
The pamphlet also links to radical LGBT activist groups that spread misinformation about sexual identity confusion, such as The Trevor Project, the Movement Advancement Project, Genderspectrum and the Human Rights Campaign.
PPT said of Admiral Levine and other leaders at HHS:
They make unequivocal statements regarding the necessity, safety, and effectiveness of gender-affirming care, but when asked to show their work, the agency is unable to back them up with anything other than one information sheet with a few cherry-picked studies.
“Gender-Affirming Care” states that puberty blockers are “reversible” – a patently false statement. Children placed on puberty blockers can never go back in time and replace the lost years when they should have been going through the natural process of puberty, growing and maturing. The Manhattan Institute reports:
Puberty blockers may have serious side-effects, including lower IQ, osteoporosis, early and aggressive menopause, infertility, and depression.
The Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) analyzed the HHS document and concluded, “‘Gender-Affirming Care and Young People’ contains a number of errors and misrepresentations.”
SEGM said HHS’ information sheet makes “misstatement of the effects of social transition on well-being”; offers an “unsupported claim of the reversibility of puberty blockers”; is an “inaccurate statement regarding the age eligibility for surgeries”; gives misleading “overreaching claims of ‘proven benefits’ of gender transition on adolescent mental health”; and omits “any discussion of risks” from body-altering transgender interventions.
In response to the HHS’ lack of science, PPT filed a complaint against the agency for its “failure to uphold scientific integrity principles and promoting policy and special interest agendas over science.”
The complaint asks Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, to investigate Dr. Levine “for making a series of statements that appear to run counter to longstanding and government-wide scientific integrity policies.”
The letter to Prabhakar says:
HHS has a mandate to only use the best science and to provide the public with scientific resources and policy recommendations based upon honest and forthright analysis of the best available data. The American public should be able to trust HHS and its subsidiary agencies for objective, evidence-based policy recommendations and pronouncements.
But instead of offering the “best science” and “best available data”:
PPT has obtained evidence that the science Assistant Secretary Levine is relying upon to make such statements may be razor-thin, falling well short of the high scientific standards required by the Department to issue such unequivocal, unqualified statements in support of these treatments for minor children. …
Contrary to the assertions of HHS officials, far from a consensus exists regarding the use of “gender-affirming care” for minors. Whether the subject is hormonal and other therapy or surgical interventions, quite a bit of controversy exists regarding their necessity, safety, and effectiveness.
The complaint letter points to countries like England, Sweden, Finland and Norway, which have moved away from automatically “transitioning” minors with experimental drugs, hormones and surgeries.
Those struggling with sexual identity confusion deserve compassion and real care, not body- and mind-altering procedures. What they don’t need is government agencies advancing damaging ideologies and procedures in the name of “science.”
Related articles and resources:
For families and individuals struggling with transgender issues, Focus on the Family offers a free, one-time counseling consultation with a licensed or pastoral counselor. To request a counseling consultation, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) or fill out our Counseling Consultation Request Form.
BREAKING: Ohio Senate Overrides Veto – Protects Children and Women’s Sports
Court Upholds Ban on ‘Transgender’ Interventions for Minors in Missouri
Focus on the Family: Transgender Resources
Important New Journal Article Calls Out Doctors for Harming Youth with Medicalized Gender Ideology
Questioning Drugs, Hormones and Surgery for Youth Confused about Their Sexual Identity
Three More States Protect Children From Damaging ‘Transgender’ Medical Procedures!
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