Biden administration clarifies stance on surgeries for trans minors after backlash
The change comes after transgender and LGBTQ+ advocates launched a pressure campaign in response to an unnamed White House spokesperson telling news outlets, including the New York Times and the non-profit newsroom The 19th, that “these surgeries should be limited to adults”.
The statements marked a significant policy change for an administration whose Department of Justice has urged the supreme court to take up the case of a Tennessee law that bans all gender transition care for minors, arguing that the law discriminates against trans people.
“[These statements] unfortunately sowed a lot of confusion among transgender people and our families as to what is their position,” said Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, executive director of Advocates for Trans Equality.
“The Biden administration has consistently done the right thing and … there’s been a really positive track record for a long time, which we’re really grateful for.
Then when those statements came out, it seemed like a contradiction. It made everyone pretty scared that there was some about-face.”
The seeming flip-flop recently spread anxiety and concern through the trans community.
“To see this back and forth, it feels so disheartening to see that we are so easily discarded,” said Veronica Takenaka, an 18-year-old trans woman from Utah, one of the states that has banned gender-affirming healthcare for trans minors.
“I find it very disheartening for me and my trans family just to be so easily tossed around.”
