The Florida Department of Health hammered a top Biden administration LGBT activist this week for spreading falsehoods about Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration’s opposition to gender transition procedures for children.
At a Pride Month event last week, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Rachel Levine, a trans woman, discussed “gender-affirming care” for trans children.
As Fox News reported, Levine said, “Opponents of LGBTQ equality have targeted trans and queer youth to score political points, all to distract from the fact that they do not have any solutions to the problems that we face today. They have stooped so low as to try to punish parents criminally for seeking gender-affirming care for their children who need it.”
“Every major medical association agrees: gender-affirming care is life-saving, medically necessary, age-appropriate and a critical tool for health care providers,” continued Levine.
The Republican National Committee highlighted a different part of Levine’s speech, in which the doctor said gender-affirming, which the Biden administration says includes hormone therapies, puberty blockers, and even surgery, is a “lifesaving, medically necessary, age-appropriate, and a critical tool for healthcare providers.”
Florida DOH spokesman Jeremy Redfern shot back at Levine’s backhanded remark about the state’s directive on such treatments and that such a position makes DeSantis’ administration “opponents” of LGBT youth.
Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Redfern told Fox News on Tuesday, “is opposed to experimental and irreversible medical treatments on children and teenagers that suffer from gender dysphoria.”
“The idea that this makes anyone at the Department of Health an ‘opponent of LGBTQ equality’ is nothing more than a poorly attempted character assassination.”
Citing “every major medical association,” Redfern argued, “isn’t data.”
“It’s an appeal to authority that is in stark contrast to the best available evidence,” he added. “The Department of Health is following the evidence. The federal government is following the eminence.”
In April, Ladapo released new state guidelines for cases involving allegedly trans children. He recommended against such treatments because studies showed that 80 percent of children grow out of the feeling to become trans.
He also noted that the federal government’s policy was based on small but biased studies. He pointed to a November 2021 study in the Journal of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy that argued “pharmacological and surgical interventions in the treatment of gender dysphoric youth … is mistaken both clinically and ethically.” Ladapo also noted that Sweden, Finland, France, and the United Kingdom had either halted gender-affirming care or slowed it for further review.
Visit Tampafp.com for Politics, Tampa Area Local News, Sports, and National Headlines. Support journalism by clicking here to our GiveSendGo or sign up for our free newsletter by clicking here.
Android Users, Click Here To Download The Free Press App And Never Miss A Story. Follow Us On Facebook Here Or Twitter Here.
Copyright 2022 The Free Press, LLC, tampafp.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.