Trump Will ‘Stop’ Gender-Affirming Care for Minors if President – Rolling Stone

In his bid for re-election, former President Donald Trump released a video on Tuesday and outlined a sweeping set of proposals to wield federal power to attack transgender people.

In the video, posted to Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump vowed to pass a law in Congress banning gender-affirming care for minors nationwide, and to punish doctors who provided this type of treatment, threatening to cut off doctors from Medicare and Medicaid. He also said that if reelected, he would push schools to “promote positive education about the nuclear family,” and pass a law that would recognize only two genders— male and female—under the U.S. government.

In the announcement, Trump said he would give federal agencies the authority to police and ultimately “stop” gender-affirming care for minors—which he equated to “child sexual mutilation”— in all 50 states.

“It’ll go very quickly,” Trump said of the proposed nationwide ban. “The left-wing gender insanity being pushed on our children is an act of child abuse—very simple.”

An obsessive fixation on transgender youth has taken over Republican politics in recent years, and Trump’s radical plan seeks to outdo his GOP rivals in the primaries.

Studies have shown that access to gender-affirming care significantly improves outcomes for transgender youth. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health standards for care hold that supportive care with work alongside a mental health professional is recommended for young children exploring their gender identity. Adolescents, under the guidance of doctors and with the approval of their legal guardian, can explore medical transition through puberty blockers or hormones. Across the board, the WPATH’s standards for care call for rigorous psychological and physical evaluation before any sort of procedure is done, and major surgeries are not recommended until adulthood. 

The blatant hostility against transgender individuals has already resulted in an increased climate and of violence against transgender individuals and their supporters. In 2022 alone, the Human Rights Campaign has tracked at least 32 murders of transgender and gender-nonconforming people.