The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today issued a report on the treatment of gender dysphoria in pediatric patients. Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, Senior Counsel and Health Care Strategist at Lambda Legal, issued the following statement:
“Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a report purporting to evaluate the evidence base pertaining to the treatment of gender dysphoria in transgender youth.
“The public should not allow themselves to be misled. Medical treatment for adolescents with gender dysphoria is well-established and widely accepted based on decades of scientific study and clinical experience. It is multidisciplinary evidence-based care. And it is health care that should be decided upon by families and their doctors, not ideologues in Washington, DC.
“The report by HHS adds nothing new to our knowledge base. Rather, it is part of the Trump Administration and RFK, Jr.’s anti-science agenda that reflects a biased effort by those with an intent to eradicate access to this care and lacks transparency and credibility. The authors of the report are being withheld from the public, but we know it relies on the same writings of well-known opponents of transgender rights.
“The report also comes from the very agency that has terminated funding into any research that is “based on gender identity” because it purportedly does not reflect “biological realities.” It is the definition of putting the cart before the horse–it was initiated as part of an executive order that labelled gender-affirming care as “mutilation” and “junk science.” Ultimately, this report is part and parcel of the Trump administration’s agenda to discriminate against transgender people and erect barriers to their full participation in society.
“We have already stopped this administration from conditioning federal funding to medical institutions based on the provision of medical care to transgender adolescents and young adults with gender dysphoria. We stand ready to challenge similar attempts by this administration to restrict access to this evidence-based care based on this biased and unreliable report.”
On Jan. 28, President Trump signed an executive order declaring that it is the policy of the United States not to “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support” gender transition for people under 19, which includes 18-year-olds who are legal adults. Seven days later, Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union sued to block implementation of this order on behalf of transgender young adults and adolescents and their families whose health care has been disrupted by the order. PFLAG National, the nation’s largest organization supporting LGBTQ+ people and their families, and GLMA, the country’s largest organization of LGBTQ and allied health professionals, also joined the lawsuit.
On Feb. 11, the federal judge presiding over the case in Baltimore issued a 14-day temporary restraining order blocking implementation of the policy, and on March 4, the court issued a nationwide preliminary injunction prohibiting HHS from conditioning or withholding federal funding on not providing gender-affirming medical to people under 19 while the case proceeds.
Read about PFLAG v. Trump here.