The scientific value of RCTs is severely impeded when studying the impact of gender-affirming care on the mental health of trans adolescent. Gender-affirming interventions have physiologically evident effects and are highly desired by participants, giving rise to concerns over adherence, drop-out, response bias, and generalizability. Complementary and well-designed observational studies can instead be used to ground reliable recommendations for clinical practice and policymaking in adolescent trans healthcare, without the need for RCTs.

The Biden administration’s previous statements on gender-affirming care for minors have not in the past explicitly opposed surgery.

who could have seen this coming?

"A Republican Party that in recent years has emphasized transgender issues related to children, teenagers and student-athletes is becoming more and more comfortable now also focusing on transgender adults"

who's pushing the culture wars?

“We knew we needed to find an issue that the candidates were comfortable talking about,” said Terry Schilling, the president of American Principles Project, a social conservative advocacy group. “And we threw everything at the wall.”

why this is bad faith bullshit:
1) sex identification not based on testosterone levels
2) statistical non-issue with one male-to-female transgender child across 70 school boards
3) applies to pre-puberty, where size differences nonexistent and variance is massive as kids hit growth spurts differently
4) boilerplate legislation pushed by The Alliance Defending Freedom

Many libraries across the country have been hosting or participating in Drag Queen Story Hours. Several have experienced pushback from some members of their community. To support libraries in their efforts, we have established this collection of resources.

Drag queens are more mainstream than ever, as are LGBTQ rights. Yet, story hours, where drag queens read to kids, have become a point of controversy and even violence.

Bills across the country are targeting transgender adults and their access to gender affirming care.

In Spero’s home state of Florida, adults are banned from using Medicaid to receive gender-affirming care.

Some states have gone further.

In Oklahoma, a proposed bill would make it a felony for anyone under the age of 26 to access gender-affirming care in the state.

“I think making a decision to permanently alter your body to remove a healthy body part is much more serious than buying a beer,” said Peake, a Republican.

He later continued, “There have been a lot of people who have come out who have had these surgeries and have indicated that they regret it.”

Research shows that rates of regret for gender-affirming procedures are extremely low — estimates are around 1%. Rates of regret for knee and hip replacement surgeries are much higher than gender affirmation surgery, according to studies.

"As somebody who felt acutely suicidal ... who was placed through multiple rounds of conversion therapy, I can tell you that it is incredibly hard to stay alive as a young trans person," Spero said.

"[Bans] will impact the lives of trans youth ... will cause mental distress and will cause, unfortunately, a lot of negative effects in the lives of these youth because they're not able to access life-affirming care."

States across the country are considering bans on transgender health care for youth and young adults.

When signing the bill, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said: "We should especially protect our children from these radical, life-altering drugs and surgeries when they are at such a vulnerable stage in life.

She continued, "Instead, let us all focus on helping them to properly develop into the adults God intended them to be."

Our results demonstrate that undergoing gender-affirming surgery is associated with improved past-month severe psychological distress, past-year smoking, and past-year suicidal ideation. Our findings offer empirical evidence to support provision of gender-affirming surgical care for TGD people who seek it. Furthermore, this study provides evidence to support policies that expand and protect access to gender-affirming surgical care for TGD communities.

Destigmatization of this diagnosis was a major milestone for transgender individuals in America, and further strides were achieved when a government appeals board in 2014 ruled that Medicare must cover surgery for gender transitions, overturning a policy that had been in place since the 1980s. Given that the surgeries are no longer experimental in nature and that the updated WPATH standards of care reference many studies which have proven the beneficial effects of sex reassignment therapy for transgender individuals, this ruling was a long time coming.

Throughout the legislative session, Mizell's colleagues repeatedly pressed her for an example in which transgender participation in sports had caused a problem in Louisiana. Unable to come up with an answer, she instead called the measure proactive.

In his veto message Tuesday, Edwards seized on that response.

"Even the author of the bill acknowledged throughout the legislative session that there wasn’t a single case where this was an issue," the governor wrote.