On July 9, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a workshop with the inaccurate and inflammatory title: “The Dangers of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Minors.” The title, event, and invited speakers ignore the consensus of every major medical association and leading world health authority, which all support health care for transgender adults and youth.
Intentional mischaracterizations of transgender health care being promoted include:
- Sensationalized and misleading terms such as “mutilation” and “sterilization,” which falsely claim that medical care for transgender people is inherently “dangerous.” The American Academy of Pediatrics states: “There is strong consensus among the most prominent medical organizations worldwide that evidence-based, gender-affirming care for transgender children and adolescents is medically necessary and appropriate.”
- Conspiracy theories such as “rapid onset gender dysphoria” which have never been proven and have been debunked by the science community, as well as false claims about a “secret plot” in schools and hospitals to forcibly “transition” children. Affirmation of trans youth has been repeatedly shown to improve mental health, lower the risk of self-harm, and increase academic success.
- Exclusion of transgender and gender non-conforming doctors, patients, and families who can testify to the benefits, safety, and medical necessity of the care.
Additional background on incendiary and baseless narratives targeting transgender health care is available here.
Background on FTC Speakers:
Speakers invited to the FTC’s hearing also have a long history of promoting harmful narratives to ban essential health care and restrict transgender people’s access to society. They frequently travel from state to state and appear on right-wing media to push anti-LGBTQ legislation and policy at the local and federal levels.
- According to GLAAD’s ALERT Desk, invited speakers for the FTC workshop have been involved in at least 60 anti-LGBTQ incidents nationwide.
- 29 of these incidents include hateful and harassing comments made while advocating for anti-trans legislation in at least 20 US states.
- Speakers including Jamie Reed, Prisha Mosely, Simon Amaya Price, Erin Friday, and Claire Abernathy frequently travel outside their state of residence to push anti-trans legislation into local communities.
- Invited speakers also have a history of harassing medical providers, educators, transgender athletes, and other LGBTQ people and allies. Examples include:
- April 2025: Erin Friday participated in a protest outside of a YMCA in Berkeley, California, where they harassed employees and patrons over the YMCA’s trans-inclusive locker room policies.
- April 2025: Erin Friday and Beth Bourne participated in a protest against the California Interscholastic Federation in Oakland, California, to block transgender youth from participating in school sports in their authentic gender.
- March 2025: Beth Bourne harassed employees of the Sacramento City Unified School District during a flag raising ceremony for Transgender Day of Visibility. Defamatory and harmful comments included: “I’m here because I’m opposed to the idea that you as a school district want to indoctrinate kids.”
- September 2024: Jamie Reed and Soren Aldaco protested against the American Academy of Pediatrics’ annual conference in Orlando, Florida, over their support for transgender health care. Protestors attempted to interrupt the keynote speech of a leading transgender health official.
- February 2024: Prisha Mosely participated in a protest against a Planned Parenthood in Lansing, Michigan, harassing patients and medical providers over the organization’s support for transgender patients. Protestors held signs that read: “Transcare does not equal healthcare.” Health care for transgender people is supported by every major medical association as safe, effective, and lifesaving.
- Many of the invited speakers also maintain connections with major anti-LGBTQ organizations:
- Paul Dupont represents the American Principles Project – a group with a long history of promoting anti-LGBTQ policies, including attacking trans student athletes, opposing the Equality Act, and spreading disinformation about pro-equality political candidates.
- Jay Richards represents the Heritage Foundation, which spearheaded the far-right presidential transition plan “Project 2025.” The plan advocates for firing federal employees who oppose or insufficiently support right-wing policies, ending access to abortion and contraception, eliminating protections for LGBTQ people, and censoring accurate history about LGBTQ people as well as the word “transgender.”
- Beth Bourne is the chair of a California chapter of Moms for Liberty – an organization designated as an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The group has a long history of calling for book bans, classroom censorship, and bans on teaching about slavery, race, racism, before aggressively turning toward targeting transgender people and youth.
- Dr. Miriam Grossman represents Do No Harm, which SPLC has designated as “an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group that led a campaign to challenge anti-racist and LGBTQ+-inclusive education policies in 2024.”
- Leor Sapir represents the Manhattan Institute, which is part of a “pseudoscience network” opposing anti-racist and LGBTQ-inclusive education policies as well as baselessly questioning essential health care. Sapir has no formal training as a medical professional or in youth education.
- Dr. Eithan Haim, a self-described “whistleblower,” was accused of leaking confidential medical records of minors seeking gender-affirming care at a Texas hospital. Haim was charged with unlawfully disclosing these records to another fellow at the aforementioned Manhattan Institute, who used the information to push for a ban on health care for trans youth in Texas.
- Jordan Campbell is an attorney who represents clients who feel they have been wronged during the medical care they received while identifying as transgender. Campbell is a contributor for the Federalist Society, which has a history of advocating against basic LGBTQ protections including employment non-discrimination, hate crime legislation, and the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. The organization has also platformed an SPLC-designated white nationalist known for his virulently racist and xenophobic immigration stances.
