The White House has restated its stance against prohibiting sex change procedures for minors despite facing criticism from LGBT activist groups, as reported by the Advocate. Last week, the Biden administration issued a statement expressing its disapproval of sex change surgeries for minors while still endorsing gender procedures for transgender individuals, according to the Advocate’s report on Wednesday.
Following this announcement, the administration received immediate pushback from various LGBT activist organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, which strongly disagreed with the administration’s position. This week, the White House clarified its stance by emphasizing its opposition to bans on transgender sex change surgeries, while maintaining that minors should not undergo life-altering transition surgeries.
In a leaked email shared on X Tuesday morning, LGBT activists claimed credit for prompting the White House’s clarification. The email thread, originating from the Whitman-Walker Institute and PACT and shared by health and science journalist Benjamin Ryan, commended the administration for reaffirming its opposition to bans on care for transgender youth and recognizing that decisions regarding such procedures should be made by patients, providers, and families.
The Whitman-Walker Institute is a coalition of nonprofit organizations dedicated to LGBT advocacy, while Partnering and Communicating Together (PACT) is a collaborative initiative funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Division of HIV Prevention, along with other organizations representing populations affected by HIV.
“We will continue to vigorously fight categorical bans on gender affirming care in the courts, including the Supreme Court, and we will fight back hard against partisan laws being pushed by extreme Republican elected officials that target Americans just for who they are,” the clarified White House statement read
The statement from the White House reiterated the widely held belief that sex change surgeries are typically only performed on adults. However, a study published in JAMA in 2023 revealed that between 2016 and 2020, a total of 3,215 individuals aged 12 to 18 underwent sex change surgeries, including breast or chest procedures. Additionally, 405 patients in the same age group underwent other genital surgeries during this time frame.
While double mastectomies are the most common type of sex change surgery for teenagers and young adults, there are more than fifteen different types of procedures available, some of which involve altering body parts while others focus on changing facial features. The process of undergoing a sex change surgery involves obtaining informed consent, having a history of “gender incongruence,” undergoing a mental health evaluation, and receiving hormone therapy, as outlined by the Cleveland Clinic.
