With the release of two documents on Thursday, the Biden administration came out in favor of gender-reassignment surgery and hormone treatments for minors, with President Joe Biden telling parents the measures are ways to keep their children safe.
The Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Population Affairs (OPA) put out a document titled "Gender Affirming Care and Young People" Thursday, that outlines what it describes as appropriate treatments for transgender youth.
Social affirmation, puberty blockers, testosterone and estrogen hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgeries, including "top surgery" – which creates male-typical chest shape or enhances breasts – and "bottom" surgery – which is surgery on genitals or reproductive organs – were all included in the OPA document.
"Medical and psychosocial gender affirming healthcare practices have been demonstrated to yield lower rates of adverse mental health outcomes, build self-esteem, and improve overall quality of life for transgender and gender diverse youth," the OPA document states.
Also on Thursday, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) – a subset of the HHS – released a complementary document titled "Gender-Affirming Care Is Trauma-Informed Care."
"For transgender and nonbinary children and adolescents, early gender-affirming care is crucial to overall health and well-being as it allows the child or adolescent to focus on social transitions and can increase their confidence while navigating the healthcare system," the NCTSN document reads. "It may include evidence-based interventions such as puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormones."
The NCTSN document specifically states that these gender-affirming actions are not child abuse, likely in response to Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's recent order to investigate parents of children who have received gender-affirming care.
"Providing gender-affirming care is neither child maltreatment nor malpractice," the NCTSN document reads. "The child welfare system in the U.S., charged with 'improv(ing) the overall health and well-being of our nation's children and families,' should not be used to deny care or separate families working to make the best decisions for their children's well-being."
In a video released on Twitter to underscore the new policies, Biden told parents of transgender children that "affirming your child's identity is one of the most powerful things you can do to keep them safe."
The president also signaled that his administration would fight state laws that limit transgender athletes' competition, after transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas ignited a national debate at the NCAA championships.
Such laws are "hateful," Biden said, and "simply wrong," adding that his administration is "standing up for transgender equality in the classroom, on the playing field, at work, in our military, in our housing and health care systems – everywhere."
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