The “wheels will turn” on widely accepting transgender transitions for children, President Biden’s transgender Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Rachel Levine said during a February discussion at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.
Levine, a biological man who believes he is a woman, said during the Pediatric Grand Rounds session last month that “gender-affirming care is medical care.” Levine, born Richard, claimed during the discussion that children who had their gender confusion affirmed “actually have excellent mental health outcomes.”
Levine claimed “numerous peer reviewed journals” indicate that “there is nothing inherent with being transgender that predisposes youth to negative mental health outcomes.” Rather, he blamed the negative mental health outcomes of those struggling with gender dysphoria on “harassment,” “bullying” and “discrimination.”
“Transgender youth who are supported by their parents, school and community who receive evidence based standard of care treatment actually have excellent mental health outcomes,” Levine claimed, declaring that “gender-affirming” care — the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical procedures to “affirm” an individual’s chosen gender — is “medical care,” “mental health care,” and “suicide prevention care.”