Parents are fed up with the transgender movement. Trans activists have blatantly targeted children, large corporations, and medical associations. Drag queens have chanted, “We’re coming for your children,” while indecently exposing themselves to minors in school settings, public libraries, and parades. After years of this chaos permeating our culture while being actively pushed by the Biden Administration, federal efforts have begun to right the ship. We now have tools we can wield to protect the most vulnerable.
In March, then-acting Director Mark Memoli of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) sent a memo directing staff to study the impacts of “social transition and/or chemical and surgical mutilation” and to research the regret of detransitioners. This memo was leaked to NPR. Thankfully, the Trump administration has been consistent in its support for reality-based policies in this area.
Within his first couple of weeks in office, President Donald Trump signed four executive orders aimed at righting the wrongs of the transgender movement. Under the Joe Biden’s presidency, the government was radical in creating policies that permitted doctors to mutilate children, provided taxpayer-funded surgeries and hormone blockers for military personnel, and allowed males access to female sports and private spaces. President Trump reversed all these detrimental programs.
First, he declared that the federal government would no longer recognize so-called ‘gender identity.’ Instead, he clarified that, “it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.” He then directed the Secretary of Defense to end pronoun usage, keep men out of women’s sleeping and restroom facilities, and prohibit transgender individuals from serving in the military. Similarly, he ensured that schools that receive Title IX education funds cannot deny equal opportunity to young girls and women to play on sports teams aligned by biological sex and must provide female-only locker and changing rooms.
The memo issued by NIH was part of the rollout of an executive order titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation” which directed the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to oversee the ending of these types of procedures. Studies from the NIH and other independent organizations have found that gender transition surgeries do not improve a person’s mental health. In fact, they often cause additional problems both mentally and physically. One study found that gender dysphoria in youth usually decreases over time. More and more detransitioners have publicly spoken about the coercive measures that these doctors use with little to no informed consent from the minor. The results of this memo were included in HHS’s comprehensive review giving credence to the scientific proof that “gender affirming care” is not healthcare at all. NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said in a press release:
Our duty is to protect our nation’s children—not expose them to unproven and irreversible medical interventions. We must follow the gold standard of science, not activist agendas.
Unfortunately, these ideas that confuse children about their gender are ingrained in school curricula. Currently, 13 states and the District of Columbia have policies that include or encourage inclusion of transgender ideology in the classroom. This does not include decisions being made on the local level in other states. The Department of Education in the previous Administration wielded its power to put this material in the public schools. However, President Trump has made eliminating the Department of Education a goal, as well as eliminating all forms of extreme gender ideology. This week, Representative Mary Miller (R-IL) is introducing the Parents Opt-In Protection Act to give parents the ability to keep schools from collecting data on their children that includes gender identity and political preferences. Eagle Forum endorses this legislation.
Several recent federal court cases have resulted in wins for parental rights and upheld protections for children. In June, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of parents who wished to opt their children out of LGBTQ curriculum on religious liberty grounds. Earlier that month, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on child genital mutilation, making way for other states to do the same. Just this week, a U.S. Court of Appeals allowed a similar law in Arkansas to go into effect. In both cases, parents who are allowing their children to be ‘transitioned’ have cited the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and parental rights. However, the Courts have ruled that being ‘transgender’ is not a special ‘class’ that triggers strict scrutiny protections and that the states have a rational reason for preventing the medical mutilation of children who cannot reasonably give informed consent to be sterilized by puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
In this upcoming term, the Supreme Court is set to hear a case from Colorado in which the state has chilled the free speech of therapists who do not find it appropriate to affirm a child’s gender dysphoria. Licensed counselor Kaley Chiles has found that children will live more fulfilling lives when encouraged to be comfortable in their own bodies rather than electing for procedures that will have irreversible effects. Colorado passed a one-sided law that requires medical professionals to only ‘affirm’ patients who feel they identify as a gender in conflict with their biological sex. Therapists are not allowed to challenge that view, or investigate why a patient may be experiencing dysphoria. Chiles, along with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), sued the state to overturn this law. In ADF’s opening brief, they explain:
Counseling is vital speech that helps young people better understand themselves, their desires, their actions, and their identity. Colorado interjects itself into those conversations, silences views it dislikes and tries to control what those kids believe about themselves and who they can become. Such priceless speech on such important issues lies at the First Amendment’s core. The Court should protect it.
Another case has emerged out of Ludlow, Massachusetts. In Foote v. Ludlow School Committee, school officials helped an 11-year-old girl socially transition to another gender despite the parents’ requests to refrain from interfering with their child’s mental health. The parents had already sought out a separate mental health professional for their daughter. When the parents sued the school, the First Circuit unfairly concluded that the school’s actions did not “sufficiently shock the conscience” or act in a way that provided medical treatment. Eagle Forum joined an amicus brief drafted by Advancing American Freedom, asking the Supreme Court to add this case to its fall docket.
To hold medical professionals accountable, the Federal Trade Commission is asking for public comments on “potential deceptive and unfair practices” in the ‘gender transition’ business. The request includes several thorough questions about who carried out the services, whether or not certain procedures and side effects were explained in detail, and the results of those procedures. If you or your child has had experience with these providers, please review the request here and send your response to [email protected].
In less than a month, we will hold our annual conference — Eagle Council 53, in Washington, D.C., where grassroots leaders across the nation will lobby their elected officials on topics like transgender ideology. We will ask our Representatives and Senators to move forward with legislation such as the Kids Online Safety Act (S. 1748) or SCREEN Act (H.R. 1623/S.737), which will prevent children from being exposed to online content that could influence them to engage in the transgender lifestyle. We will also ask Members to defund gender transition procedures throughout the federal government. While the White House, Supreme Court, and state legislatures move on these issues, Congress must do its part to codify these efforts as well. To register for Eagle Council, visit our website here and book your hotel room before August 25!
