In a move that was likely inevitable considering how much anti-trans animus drives President Donald Trump’s administration, the Federal Trade Commission has launched a formal inquiry into whether health providers are making deceptive claims about gender-affirming care. Let’s face it—there is no world where the FTC is going to engage in a measured, science-based assessment. The fix has been wholly in since the FTC announced the invite-only workshop, which promised a veritable cavalcade of anti-trans activists, but claimed details had to be secret “for the safety of participants.” Yes, the real victims, the truly vulnerable among us, are people who have dedicated themselves to attacking trans kids, not the trans kids themselves. Unsurprisingly, the secret workshop stuffed with anti-trans people somehow raised enough concerns that the formal inquiry is warranted. If you’d like to see the proceedings of that workshop to see what was presented for yourself? Lol, nope. You can read some super transphobic statements from FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson and Commissioner Melissa Holyoak, but that’s about it. Now, based on the workshop you can’t watch, the FTC is soliciting public comments about gender-affirming care, but only wants to hear from people who think it’s bad. The questions are insanely biased, asking people to report whether a doctor who prescribes gender-affirming care described all the risks, provided material from “other sources” about those risks, and told them about the political controversy over such care or that some states have prohibited that care for minors. Also, of course, did the doctor pressure you or your child to transition? While those are all questions targeted at those who have received gender-affirming care, the FTC made sure to include catch-all questions to solicit comments from the most rabid anti-trans types who have no connection whatsoever to the provision of gender-affirming care. The agency is asking people to report “any individuals, entities, or institutions that have promoted, advertised, or otherwise made public representations” about gender-affirming care and whether they are aware of any “false representations” about gender-affirming care. The only “false representations” being made about gender-affirming care are those being made by anti-trans activists who insist that all the science is wrong for … reasons. Every major medical organization has said that gender-affirming care for minors is safe. But, as Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas noted in his concurrence in U.S. v. Skremetti, no one should listen to “self-proclaimed experts” because they have “no license to countermand the ‘wisdom, fairness, or logic of legislative choices.” As long as Thomas or anyone else just has a vibe that gender-affirming care hurts kids, it’s cool to discriminate. No one has really been able to explain how prescribing puberty blockers for minors with gender dysphoria is dangerous, but prescribing the same thing for non-trans minors for things like precocious puberty is totally safe. Seems like science isn’t a conservative thing these days, now is it? Instead of science, we get stuff like the Department of Health and Human Services’ 409-page “report” on the dangers of gender-affirming care. HHS withheld the names of the authors because nothing says you stand behind something like an anonymous report. It was criticized for its research methods, as the report concluded that a systematic review of the evidence shows a “growing body of evidence pointing to significant risks.” But the actual systematic review in the report doesn’t show that. Oops. Actual medical organizations came forward to explain all the ways in which the report was wrong. Susan Kressly, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, issued a statement saying they were not consulted for the report, yet it still discussed AAP’s policies and recommendations in a misleading way. Shutting out the doctors who actually provide medical care to children is certainly a choice. Related | Inside Trump’s bigoted push to ban girls from school sports The only “treatment” that the report endorses is “exploratory therapy,” which might sound relatively benign but is code for conversion therapy, where LGBTQ+ minors are pressured to be straight. Here’s some actual scientific research from the American Psychological Association explaining that conversion therapy actually harms people. Studies show people experience a loss of sexual interest, depression, anxiety, and suicidal impulses. Also, studies show that it just doesn’t work and that an enduring change in sexual orientation or gender identity is unlikely. Unfortunately, none of this actual science matters. HHS doesn’t care what the science says. The FTC doesn’t care what the science says. Donald Trump doesn’t care what the science says, and the conservatives on the nation’s highest court definitely do not care what the science says. The FTC’s solicitation of comments from transphobic cranks is the perfect distillation of Trump world. It’s anti-science, ignoring every major medical organization in favor of whatever misinformation is published by The New York Times. It’s also viciously anti-trans, pretending that bigots are the real sufferers when really it is transgender people who face violence, with one in four transgender adults saying they have been physically attacked and nearly two-thirds reporting being verbally attacked. Forty-one percent said they were harassed or felt unsafe in restrooms and locker rooms. They also experience widespread prejudice and discrimination. If the Trump administration has its way, things are about to get a lot worse.
