The Biden administration recently issued a statement claiming it does not support “gender-affirming” surgery for minors, sparking controversy among transgender advocates and healthcare providers. The statement came in response to an article by The New York Times, which reported that the administration had pressured a transgender health organization to remove age restrictions for sex reassignment surgery from its treatment guidelines for minors.
According to the article, U.S. Adm. Rachel Levine, who is transgender, and her staff had pushed for the removal of age minimums for surgery, citing concerns that publishing the proposed lower ages for gender transition surgeries could lead to attacks on the transgender community. However, the Biden administration later clarified that it still supports “gender-affirming care” for minors, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy.
The administration’s stance has been met with criticism from some in the transgender community, who argue that limiting access to surgery for minors is discriminatory. Kelly Rowland, president of the Human Rights Campaign, described the administration’s statement as “flat wrong” and said it was inconsistent with other steps the administration has taken to support transgender youth.
Allison Scott, director of impact and innovation at the Campaign for Southern Equality, also criticized the administration’s statement, calling it “cowardly” and “dangerous.” Scott argued that the government has no business inserting itself into private medical decisions and that restricting access to healthcare for transgender youth is discriminatory.
The controversy surrounding the Biden administration’s stance on gender-affirming surgery for minors comes as the United States Supreme Court prepares to take on a case challenging Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and irreversible sex reassignment surgeries for minors.
