LGB Courage Coalition Applauds HHS Review as U.S. Aligns with Europe on Evidence-Based Care for Gender-Dysphoric Youth
For Immediate Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LGB Courage Coalition Applauds HHS Review as U.S. Aligns with Europe on Evidence-Based Care for Gender-Dysphoric Youth
May 1, 2025 – St. Louis, MO – The LGB Courage Coalition welcomes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) systematic review on best practices for children with gender dysphoria, released May 1, 2025, per President Trump’s Executive Order, “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.” This landmark assessment aligns the U.S. with Europe’s evidence-based approach to pediatric gender care, prioritizing science over ideology.
European nations like Finland, Sweden, the UK, and others have restricted medical interventions for gender-dysphoric youth after reviews exposed weak evidence and significant risks. The U.S., previously reliant on affirmation-only models, now catches up through this review. The HHS systematic review, which includes insights from Jamie Reed, a former case manager at the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital who became a whistleblower raising concerns about the center's practices, bridges this gap. Reed went public with her allegations in a story published by The Free Press and her claims have also been the subject of investigations, including reporting by The New York Times. Her contribution provided crucial context and evidence for the HHS review.
“This review is a turning point,” said Lauren Leggieri, Co-Executive Director of the LGB Courage Coalition. “The U.S. is finally rejecting unproven interventions and embracing psychosocial care that supports vulnerable youth, as Europe has done.”
The review challenges affirmation-only approaches, calls for better data collection, and emphasizes addressing underlying factors of distress through psychotherapy approaches. The Coalition urges medical associations, insurers, and policymakers to adopt non-invasive, evidence-based care, following Europe’s lead.
Learning from Europe’s challenges, Leggieri noted, “The UK shows that scientific rigor must drive systemic change. We must end practices like social transitions and recognize puberty blockers’ risks, as European systems have.”
The LGB Courage Coalition remains committed to supporting those harmed by medical transition, including detransitioners, through advocacy and resources. It champions non-medicalized, evidence-based approaches to gender dysphoria, grounded in biological reality and comprehensive care.
May 1, 2025, marks a course correction for U.S. healthcare. The Coalition calls on parents, clinicians, and policymakers to build a system rooted in science, compassion, and accountability, ensuring no child faces experimental treatments without robust evidence.
Contact: lgbtcouragecoalition@gmail.com on X- @LGBCourage
About LGB Courage Coalition: The LGB Courage Coalition is a lesbian and gay advocacy group committed to promoting evidenced-based medical care for all, ending the medicalization of sex nonconformity, safeguarding homosexual rights, and building a pathway back for LGB individuals who have undergone medicalization.
Learn more at: https://lgbcouragecoalition.substack.com/
Great news!
Wish you could get this in the guest Op-Ed section of the New York Times.
Seeing some very biased reporting out there--Associated Press.
Haven't seen anything from NYT yet.
This is truly great news. Unfortunately, I expect it will be treated with the a full dress onslaught of the "Fox News Fallacy", the rhetorical trope, "Fox says X. 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 Not X". NPR will blow a gasket if they mention it all and probably characterize it as a threat of genocide to all "LGBTQIA+".