Trump Admin Pushes Pseudoscience, Conversion Therapy in Trans Youth Healthcare Report

On Thursday, the foremost health agency under the Trump administration published a comprehensive assessment of transgender healthcare, wrongly stating that the current scientific evidence fails to endorse gender-affirming treatment for young people who identify as transgender.

The 409-page report ordered by the Department of Health and Human Services endorsed psychotherapy as a "noninvasive" option, but this was criticized by LGBTQ+ supporters who labeled it as "conversion therapy."

The latest report goes against years of study and disputes the recommendations from leading U.S. health organizations such as the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and the American Medical Association regarding standard procedures for addressing gender dysphoria in young people who identify as transgender.

Gender dysphoria refers to intense discomfort experienced when someone's physical form doesn’t match their sense of self regarding their gender, which often drives transgender individuals to pursue gender-confirming procedures such as hormone treatment and surgeries. However, the HHS review suggests using counseling sessions rather than these medical interventions for young people dealing with this issue.

Following President Donald Trump’s executive order issued in January, which could potentially cut off federal funds to facilities offering gender-confirming treatments to minors aged below 19, a review was initiated. This directive mandated HHS to produce a document outlining "optimal strategies" for addressing gender dysphoria among young individuals. Additionally, government bodies were directed to withdraw any guidelines dependent on WPATH recommendations within three months of the instruction.

Currently, HHS has submitted that report, emphasizing it does not serve as "a clinical practice guideline," but instead aims to assist policymakers, clinicians, therapists, medical associations, along with patients and their families.

The benefits of pediatric medical transitions remain highly uncertain, whereas the potential harms appear less clear," states the report's executive summary. "Healthcare professionals ought to decline providing medical interventions that present undue and excessive risk, even if these treatments are favored, asked for, or insisted upon by patients.

The authorities chose not to reveal who put together the study, citing the necessity to “preserve the integrity of the procedure.”

Our responsibility is to safeguard our country’s youth rather than subjecting them to experimental and permanent medical procedures," stated Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, in remarks released with the report. "We should adhere to the principles of scientific rigor instead of succumbing to activist ideologies.

Critics argue that the report aims to deliberately distort the current evidence regarding gender-affirming care. This evidence actually contradicts the HHS theory: when transgender young people receive such medical interventions, they tend to exhibit very little to no instances of regret and show significant improvements in their mental well-being and self-perception.

The agency acknowledges in the report that research regarding harm is "scarce" and that there is "very little evidence" concerning long-term health effects, psychological outcomes, quality of life, or instances of regret. However, the report highlights the advantages of psychotherapy, particularly what it calls "explorative therapy," noting that this approach assists "young individuals in reconciling themselves with their physical selves."

Multiple groups focused on LGBTQ+ issues and reproductive health have criticized the review's suggestion of using psychotherapy. These organizations view this move as an attempt by the agency to relabel conversion therapy—a harmful and widely debunked approach grounded in the false idea that homosexuality or transgender identity can be treated like a disease—proposing it instead as an option alongside contemporary medical procedures.

"The primary objective of this report aims to prioritize a political agenda over scientific evidence and to intrude upon areas where the federal government should not be involved—specifically, inserting itself between healthcare providers and the families and patients they serve," stated Dr. Kellan Baker, who serves as the executive director of the Institute for Health Research and Policy at Whitman-Walker Health, an LGBTQ+ community health center.

Stephen Miller, who served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy under President Trump, praised The report delivered in the White House briefing room on Thursday equated the concept of being transgender with "a cancerous communist woke ideology" that is "ruining the nation."

The report primarily focuses on what it presents as an unverified and debunked concept referred to as "rapid-onset gender dysphoria." This idea suggests that increasing numbers of young people assigned female at birth are identifying as transgender due to peer pressure and so-called "social contagion." Dr. Lisa Littman, a medical professional and scientist, first introduced this hypothesis in a study published in 2018. For her research, she surveyed parents—mostly sourced through sites opposed to trans rights—who described how involvement with social media seemed connected to their children experiencing gender dysphoria.

However, a study from 2021 published in the Journal of Pediatrics found no such evidence to back up the theory. In the same year, the American Psychological Association along with 61 additional healthcare provider groups agreed to sign a letter criticizing the theory due to "an absence of thorough empirical evidence supporting its existence."

Although Littman subsequently provided an update to correct her approach and clarified that rapid-onset gender dysphoria wasn’t an official diagnosis, this idea gained significant traction within particular sections of the conservative online sphere. Her research was frequently referenced in policies aimed at restricting gender-affirming treatment in places such as Florida and Texas , and now endorsed by the White House to further validate its efforts to limit transgender youths' access to healthcare.

During his joint address in March, Trump urged Congress to enact legislation that would "ban and penalize gender confirmation procedures for minors" and put an end to the notion that "any young person could be stuck in the wrong body."

The review published on Thursday also makes repeated mentions of the Cass Review , a comparable study sponsored by the U.K.'s National Health Service concluded that there wasn't "reliable evidence" supporting gender-affirming treatments. The Cass Review came out in April 2024, just a month following the shutdown of the Tavistock Clinic’s Gender Identity Development Service, the sole national healthcare provider for transgender youths in the U.K. Multiple trans health groups and scholars argued that the review suffered from notable flaws, casting doubt on both its scientific approach and the perception of bias it presented. discriminatory bias against trans people.

Similar to the HHS report, The Cass Review supports the preference for psychotherapy over medical treatments. Both documents contend that this approach is often wrongly equated with conversion therapy and assert that it represents "the least intrusive method for tackling mental anguish" in transgender young people.

In the course of the review, HHS asserts that through psychotherapy, a child’s gender dysphoria typically "resolves without requiring medical treatment," and notes that many of these children eventually identify as gay as they grow older.

However, current scientific evidence shows that being transgender is not a phase or a result of peer influence. A study published in the journal Pediatrics in 2022 indicated that most transgender young people do not outgrow their identity. continued to identify As someone who came out as transgender five years ago—and realizing that denying them access to crucial healthcare certainly didn’t aid trans youth in becoming healthy adults. Actually, trans youth encounter higher rates Of anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts compared to their cisgender counterparts. Studies also indicate that a lack of support from families and educational institutions, along with bullying and harassment, contributes to this issue. discrimination include the main reasons behind adverse mental health results.

Various research indicates that the increase in anti-transgender laws at the state level throughout the last half-decade might present a danger to public health So far, 25 states have implemented restrictions on gender-affirming hormones and surgeries for transgender young people, as reported by the Movement Advancement Project.

On the other hand, multiple studies indicate that medical procedures such as pubertary blockers and hormone replacement therapy might significantly enhance psychological well-being resultados For transgender young people. In 2023, study A study published in The Lancet revealed that after receiving hormone therapy for two years, transgender young people experienced a reduced incidence of suicidal thoughts compared to the overall U.S. population.

Numerous supporters view the HHS document as a reflection of political influence rather than scientific proof, and they consider it part of the Trump administration’s ongoing attempt to restrict trans youths' access to gender-conforming healthcare.

"This report appears to be attempting to construct an argument in favor of conversion therapy," stated Dr. Aisha Mays, a California-based physician and a member of the Board at Physicians for Reproductive Health, in a formal comment.

Today's report serves as propaganda designed to undermine the legitimacy of the completely safe, effective, and scientifically supported healthcare that transgender individuals receive to live authentically. Just like being cisgender, being transgender is neither a choice nor can it be altered through any form of medical or social intervention.