New Settlements Fuel Old Myths about Detransition

Even as we close out another Pride Month of building and celebrating community, the
people who wish to harm and divide the LGBTQIA+ community are turning to the courts
with old arguments and a new strategy: reach a settlement that claims to solve a non-
existent problem.

In May, Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston reached a settlement with the U.S.
Department of Justice and the Texas Attorney General’s office in a lawsuit over the
medical care of transgender youth. In addition to revoking the medical privileges of five
doctors who provided gender-affirming care, part of that settlement established a so-
called “detransition clinic” for any transgender youth that wanted to revert to the sex
assigned at birth.

Earlier last month, the Cleveland Clinic settled a similar lawsuit keeping it from offering
gender-affirming care for two decades and establishing another “detransition clinic.”
Also, several state attorneys general (including Texas) joined the Justice Department and
Federal Trade Commission in suing WPATH, the international organization that
developed evidence-based standards of care for transgender people.

According to research from the International Society for Sexual Medicine, the incidents
of detransition are exceptionally rare. Exact numbers are difficult to come by, but by
using community surveys, researchers believe between 1-9% of transgender people
detransition, depending on the circumstances of the groups studied. The researchers say
the people who detransition are not doing so out of regret. In many cases, the surveys
showed the people who detransition later re-transition when they find themselves in a
supportive environment. Medical side effects and financial barriers have also been cited
for reasons to detransition—again, it’s not fueled by regret.

These coordinated lawsuits by the federal government and politically aligned states
appear designed, at least in part, to once again vilify transgender people ahead of major
elections. Sadly, this tactic has worked before. But as candidates face economic pressure
and declining public support, those of us who are able must push back against
intentional misinformation about transition. We need to know where candidates stand
on the transgender community—and vote for allies. We need to become proactively
educated on issues that affect transgender people and call out misinformation. These
may seem like small steps, but enough of us doing them we can break through the
disinformation clutter.