Trump administration slammed for directing NIH to study people’s ‘regret’ after transitioning
A protester holds up a sign reading “Respect trans pride or expect trans wrath” (David Levenson/Getty Images)
A protester holds up a sign reading "Respect trans pride or expect trans wrath" (David Levenson/Getty Images)
The Trump administration has reportedly directed the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study trans people’s “regret” over transitioning.
According to NIH employees who spoke anonymously to news outlet Nature, the White House under US president Donald Trump has directed the health agency to study “regret” after a person undergoes gender-affirming care.
The directive comes despite the fact that numerous studies have shown the majority of trans people do not regret undergoing gender-affirming care, with one study finding the number of people who “detransition” after starting medical treatment such as puberty blockers or hormone therapy to be just one per cent.
Nature reported that Matthew Memoli, then-acting NIH director, sent an email to the directors of several NIH institutes in March, claiming the Department of Health and Human Services “has been directed to fund research on a few specific areas” related to what it calls “chemical and surgical mutilation” of children and adults.
“This is very important to the President,” the e-mail added.
Harry Barbee, who studies the health of people from gender and sexual minorities at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, told Nature that the phrase “chemical and surgical mutilation” is “scientifically unsound” and will “provoke fear and stigma” among the trans community”, adding: “When ideology is prioritized over scientific merit, that threatens the entire scientific enterprise.”
Barbee added that the proposed study, alongside the fact that dozens of NIH grants funding trans research have been terminated, could create “a distorted research ecosystem where only politically favourable findings are permitted to exist.”
The directive to study “regret” over transitioning comes as Donald Trump has signed several anti-LGBTQ+ executive orders mostly targeting the trans community since returning to office in January.
Among the orders, Trump has declared the official policy of the United States is that there are “only two sexes”, attempted to ban trans people from serving in the military and attempted to restrict gender-affirming healthcare for trans people under the age 19, as well as eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes across the government and in the armed forces.
While judges have blocked the implementation of certain executive orders aimed at the LGBTQ+ community, experts have slammed the “extreme” nature of the orders.
“The Trump administration’s unhinged obsession with attacking transgender people and their health care does not reflect medical fact and does not represent the reality of trans people, youth, and their freedom to be themselves, and make their own health care decisions, without being discriminated against and lied about,” LGBTQ+ organisation GLAAD said back in January.
“The Trump administration’s obsession comes at a high cost for every American who wants [the] government to address actual issues like gun violence, abortion access, and rising costs,” it added.
On Saturday (5 April), thousands of people in cities across the US attended the largest anti-Trump protests since the president took power for a second time in January, with many of the protesters seen waving LGBTQ+ and trans Pride flags.
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