How do they live with themselves?

How Do They Live with Themselves?

This was the question Roger Rosenblatt asked in The New York Times regarding the tobacco industry executives who lied to Congress about what they knew to be true.

It is now a question we must ask of the leaders of major medical organizations, such as the AAP, AMA, and Endocrine Society, as well as leaders of advocacy groups in the charity sector that support the medicalization of non-conforming youth—particularly those that once fought for the rights of LGB individuals, including HRC, GLSEN, GLAAD, the Trevor Project, Stonewall UK, and others.

Big Tobacco, Big Medicine, Lies, Silence, and Betrayal

Thirty years ago, in 1994, the collective leadership of Big Tobacco USA went before Congress, took a solemn oath, and lied. They denied knowing that nicotine was addictive, despite soon-to-be-revealed evidence proving this claim to be false. The hearings, chaired by Henry Waxman, were televised live, making Big Tobacco a laughing stock and a legal target.

Big Medicine

This week, it was revealed that more than 14,000 American minors have received gender transition medical treatments, including surgeries, over the last five years. Doctors, hospitals, and clinics have billed over $120 million for these procedures—substantial figures for what some claim is “the thing that never happens.”

These findings come from a comprehensive analysis of insurance claims by Do No Harm, a non-profit advocacy group representing physicians, nurses, medical students, patients, and policymakers. The group’s mission is to keep identity politics out of medical education. According to their website, the new Stop the Harm Database aims to expose the dangers of experimental pediatric gender medicine and bring these practices to an end.

“This first-of-its-kind project provides patients, families, and policymakers with a resource that reveals the pervasiveness of irreversible sex-change treatments for minors in America. While this data represents the tip of the iceberg, this is the first step in holding the medical establishment accountable for participating in, and often promoting, predatory and unscientific medical interventions for vulnerable children,” said Do No Harm Chairman Dr. Stanley Goldfarb.

“This new project proves the lies from the medical establishment and radical politicians who argue that cases like mine are rare,” said Senior Fellow and Patient Advocate Chloe Cole. “The stats in this database represent thousands of kids who are being treated like guinea pigs for unproven, and sometimes dangerous, medical experiments. I hope politicians and parents alike use this database to see where these treatments are happening and protect their children from being rushed into irreversible, life-altering treatments.”

Key National Findings (2019 to 2023):

• 13,994 children received sex-change-related treatments.
• 5,747 sex-change surgeries were performed on children.
• 62,682 hormone and puberty blockers prescriptions were written for 8,579 pediatric patients.
• At least $119,791,202 was earned from sex-change treatments performed on minors.

These numbers indicate the breadth of these practices.

The Stop the Harm Database also highlights the most active institutions and providers engaged in these interventions. It identifies the “Dirty Dozen”—the 12 children’s hospitals most involved in promoting sex-change treatments for minors. More information can be found on their website: https://donoharmmedicine.org/2024/10/08/stop-the-harm-national-database-child-trans-industry/.

The Context: Key Findings of the Cass Independent Review of gender identity services for children and young people.

When considering these statistics, it is important to note that there is no substantial evidence that these irreversible and life-altering treatments are effective.

The most thorough review of the research to date –  the Cass Report published in the UK in April 2024 –  found the evidence supporting puberty blockers to be alarmingly weak. As a result, the NHS stopped prescribing them in England. However, in the United States, the medical community continues to administer puberty blockers and other radical treatments, despite the lack of robust trials to justify their use.

Given the evidence questioning the justification for such radical treatments, why do the AAP, AMA, and the Endocrine Society continue to support them and claim that puberty blockers are reversible, medically necessary, safe, and effective for children and young people distressed about their sexed bodies?

Compounding this issue is the role of U.S. Assistant Health Secretary Admiral Levine, who uses the position to promote claims about the harmlessness and reversibility of puberty blockers, while also spreading falsehoods about suicide.

Even more concerning, Levine reportedly pressured WPATH to remove minimum age limits from its latest Standards of Care (SoC8), which initially set age 14 for cross-sex hormones and 15 for mastectomies.

The AAP held its annual convention last week, featuring Admiral Levine as a keynote speaker, signaling that a change of course from the AAP is unlikely any time soon. According to these organizations, puberty blockers remain recommended treatments—despite extensive evidence to the contrary.

The Betrayal

It is also known that LGB teens and young people are disproportionately affected by these medical interventions. Yet, many organizations originally established to advocate for gay rights are now some of the most vocal supporters of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. This includes the Human Rights Campaign, the Trevor Project, GLAAD, GLSEN, PFLAG, Stonewall UK, and others.

These groups once fought for equality and a better future for LGB youth. Now, they advocate for placing non-conforming children and young people on a lifelong medical pathway involving powerful drugs and treatments with irreversible consequences—all without sound scientific evidence. How do they live with themselves?

Accountability

The 1994 Congressional hearings marked a turning point in the struggle against the influence of the tobacco industry, which had long enjoyed a cozy relationship with the medical establishment. What will be the equivalent tipping point for addressing the harms of transition medicine?

Who must be held accountable for perpetuating the myth that puberty blockers are safe and reversible for distressed children? When will it happen? And who will present the evidence of the harms caused, willing to deny the reality of their own community under oath?

At the Genspect Bigger Picture Lisbon Conference, Bev Jackson, a founder of the LGB Alliance, highlighted the impacts on LGB youth, particularly young girls.

THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND MEDICAL INTERVENTION: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DIABOLICAL

Jackson reserved the term “diabolical” for those organizations that have turned their backs on young LGB people, becoming complicit in promoting the medicalization of non-conforming and gay youth.

“I’d like to demand, on behalf of LGB people everywhere, a public acknowledgment that the groups calling themselves LGBTQIA+ are largely hostile to the interests of young lesbians, gays, and bisexuals. They are like the armies of women who opposed the campaign for female suffrage in the late 19th century. They do not speak for us.” – Bev Jackson

At the same conference, Helen Joyce posed the question, “What Will It Take to Return to Reality?”

It is an important demand—and a vital question.