Are all leftists faggots?
No, or they couldn't reproduce in the numbers that they do.
Multiple doctors and therapists pushed back against Assistant
Secretary for Health Rachel Levine's recent assertion that
"there is no argument" about gender-affirming care among medical
professionals who specialize in children and adolescents.
Several medical professionals told Fox News they have seen rates
of gender dysphoria skyrocket among young people in recent
years, but that many of their colleagues are reluctant to speak
publicly against transgender ideology for fear of both
professional and personal retaliation.
No debate on gender-affirming care?
Medical professionals took issue with Levine's blanket claim,
including the Florida Department of Health. Citing peer-reviewed
studies as well as a "lack of conclusive evidence, and the
potential for long-term, irreversible effects," Florida Surgeon
General Joseph Ladapo released a fact sheet on April 20 advising
against the HHS's list of treatment options for children and
adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria.
Levine, who is the highest-ranking transgender person in the
U.S. government, made headlines last month for claiming during
an interview with NPR that "there is no argument among medical
professionals pediatricians, pediatric endocrinologists,
adolescent medicine physicians, adolescent psychiatrists,
psychologists, etc. about the value and the importance of
gender-affirming care."
MEDICAL MANUAL STRIPS GENDER DYSPHORIA DEFINITION AFTER BEING
CITED BY FLORIDA DEPT. OF HEALTH
According to definitions laid out in a fact sheet from Levine's
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in March, "gender-
affirming care" includes social affirmation at any age, puberty
blockers during puberty and cross-sex hormone therapy starting
during early adolescence. Irreversible surgery is "typically
used in adulthood or case-by-case basis in adolescence,"
according to the agency.
Ladapo's office told Fox News he believes Florida's guidance and
fact sheet speak for themselves, and that "the burden of proof
to support the outlandish claims made on NPR falls on Dr.
Levine."
When reached for comment, Levine's office doubled down on the
assistant secretary's claims. "There is no debate in the medical
community about the medical or scientific validity of gender-
affirming care," Levine's communications director Adam Sarvana
told Fox News.
Sarvana said the standards of care from the World Professional
Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) have been endorsed by
multiple medical organizations, including the American Academy
of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Medical Association (AMA), the
American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the American Academy
of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP).
Unsettled science on gender
Dr. William Malone, an Idaho-based assistant clinical professor
of endocrinology, is a member of the Society for Evidence-Based
Gender Medicine (SEGM), which is an international group of more
than 100 clinicians and researchers concerned about what they
call the "lack of quality evidence for the use of hormonal and
surgical interventions as first-line treatment for young people
with gender dysphoria."
On April 7, SEGM released an extensive rebuttal of the March
guidance from the HHS, alleging that the department failed to
adequately review available literature and also rendered biased
recommendations without taking into account the low quality of
evidence, diversity of clinician viewpoints or possible
alternative treatments.
A board-certified endocrinologist, Malone has waded into the
international debate on such issues by raising concern about the
potential long-term physical effects of treating gender-
dysphoric youth with puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and
surgery, as endorsed by the Endocrine Society (ES).
In March 2021, he and several colleagues penned a letter to the
editor of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism,
pointing out that the "standards of care" laid out by WPATH and
the ES are technically only practice guidelines that are
potentially subject to the bias of their sponsor.
The ES forwarded Fox News to a published response to Malone that
claims he and his colleagues "overstate concerns and conflate
appropriately conservative statements from the existing
literature with absence of data." WPATH did not respond to
request for comment in time for publication.
"They're trying to make it seem that the evidence base is a done
deal and is settled science, and that's just simply not the
case," Malone told Fox News. "And so the language that they're
using does not reflect the actual medical evidence."
Malone pointed out how other countries are urging caution
regarding gender-affirming care, especially for minors.
In February, the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare
(NBHW) updated its health care service guidelines to recommend
"restraint when it comes to hormone treatment," noting
increasing reports of detransition and transition-related regret
among youth who transitioned in recent years. The National
Academy of Medicine in France also advised caution that same
month.
In 2020, the Finnish Health Authority (PALKO/COHERE) issued
similar guidelines deviating from WPATH and recommending
psychotherapy as the first-line treatment for gender-dysphoric
minors.
In October 2021, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of
Psychiatrists (RANZCP) also released a statement citing a lack
of quality evidence and emphasizing the necessity of receiving a
proper mental health evaluation before undergoing irreversible
hormone therapy or gender reassignment surgery.
Doctor warns of psychic epidemic
Dr. Miriam Grossman, a child and adolescent psychiatrist who has
treated young people for nearly 40 years and written extensively
about gender ideology, said Levine is misleading the American
public by claiming there is no disagreement among physicians
regarding gender-affirming care.
"There is a complete lack of high-quality, long-term data that
these medical interventions actually help, and it is very
disturbing to me as a fellow physician that Dr. Levine is
arrogantly announcing that all pediatricians, all physicians and
therapists agree with her position," said Grossman, who
described the rising rates of gender dysphoria among young
people as "a psychic epidemic."
HHS SECRETARY DODGES QUESTION ABOUT GROTESQUE SEX CHANGE
SURGERIES FOR CHILDREN
"I attribute it to the gender ideology, which has made its way
into our schools, into our entertainment industry, into the
social media platforms," she said. "Children who have various
emotional issues are being led to believe that being transgender
is going to solve their emotional issues."
Grossman also noted that among female adolescents especially,
such ideas and behaviors spread rapidly within friend groups.
Psychologist: We're definitely in hiding in gender controversy
Several medical professionals who spoke to Fox News said many of
their colleagues have misgivings about the gender-affirming
model, but are afraid to voice them.
"There's kind of like an underground group of therapists and
pediatricians and doctors who have to meet in secret groups to
talk about their concerns with this, because everyone kind of
sees it as being transphobic if we challenge this narrative,"
said Dr. David Haralson, a Colorado-based marriage and family
therapist who is part of a group called the Gender Exploratory
Therapy Association (GETA), which encourages therapy instead of
medicalization to help resolve gender dysphoria.
THOUSANDS OF CHURCHES RAISE ALARM ABOUT SCOPE OF NEW CANADIAN
CONVERSION THERAPY BAN
Dr. Oren Amitay, a registered psychologist and lecturer at
Ryerson University in Toronto, told Fox News he believes
Levine's claims are hyperbolic, especially given the number of
medical professionals he knows worldwide who question the long-
term safety of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones on youth.
"We have a number of colleagues who say no, this is wrong, and
it's not on ideological grounds, it's on the science," said
Amitay, who also revealed that he and other skeptical doctors
communicate through various groups, some of which remain secret.
"I don't know if we're in the minority, but we're definitely in
hiding, so to speak, because speaking out can get us in
trouble," he said. "So yes, there are quite a few of us who
disagree."
Amitay described how recent Canadian legislation such as Bill C-
4, which outlaws conversion therapy, has had a chilling effect
on his own practice.
"I will tell you that in today's day and age, I'm less inclined
to ask certain questions that I would have in the past, because
I'm worried that it would be mischaracterized as conversion
therapy," said Amitay, who explained that his approach with
clients who struggle with such issues is exploratory and not
intended to push them toward any particular outcome.
As defined in Canada, conversion therapy encompasses any
practice intended to "change a persons gender identity to
cisgender," or to "repress or reduce a persons gender
expression that does not conform to the sex assigned to the
person at birth." Such therapy is banned even for consenting
adults who want to receive it.
Therapists who run afoul of Bill C-4, which became law in
January, risk half a decade in prison. Similar conversion
therapy bans have sprung up in various states, cities and
municipalities in the U.S.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/doctors-slam-levines-claim-gender-
affirming-care-fear-speaking-in-hiding