LGB Courage Coalition to Advocate for Evidence-Based Care at Endocrine Society Conference in San Francisco – Criticizes Outdated Guidelines and Ethically Questionable Presentations
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – July 11, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LGB Courage Coalition to Advocate for Evidence-Based Care at Endocrine Society Conference in San Francisco – Criticizes Outdated Guidelines and Ethically Questionable Presentations
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – July 11, 2025 – The LGB Courage Coalition, a broad and diverse group of advocates, will hold a public demonstration this weekend, July 12-13, outside the Endocrine Society Conference (ENDO 2025) at the Moscone Convention Center (747 Howard Street) in San Francisco. The coalition seeks to raise awareness and advocate for evidence-based medical care, particularly concerning interventions for gender dysphoria in minors, and to highlight concerning aspects of the conference itself.
With the LGB Courage Coalition is Jamie Reed, the whistleblower who brought to light concerning practices within the pediatric gender industry. She will be joined by numerous gay and lesbian individuals, parents of children impacted by current medical practices, feminists, and Democrats, all united in their call for a re-evaluation of current standards of care.
"We are here to respectfully but firmly call on the Endocrine Society to prioritize the long-term health and well-being of young people above all else," said Lauren Leggieri, Co-Executive Director for the LGB Courage Coalition. "The Endocrine Society's current guidelines on hormone and puberty blocker use in distressed individuals date back to 2017 and are severely outdated, failing to reflect the evolving body of evidence and growing concerns. Despite claims of a guideline committee, there has been a notable lack of transparency. The Endocrine Society has not released the names of those on the committee, nor have they sought public comment from their rank-and-file members, a process they typically follow. This lack of transparency is deeply concerning when the well-being of vulnerable youth is at stake."
The coalition also expresses grave concerns about certain presentations scheduled for ENDO 2025 that appear to normalize or downplay the risks of irreversible medical interventions for minors or focus on expanding interventions without sufficient caution.
Specific presentations drawing criticism include:
Evaluating Hyperkalemia and Side Effect Related to Spironolactone Use in Transgender Adolescents: A Retrospective Chart Review Study by Rebecca Kim, BS, from Rady's Children's Hospital-San Diego. The focus on managing side effects of Spironolactone, a potent drug, rather than questioning the widespread use of such medications in developing bodies, raises serious ethical and medical questions.
Clinician Perspectives on Gender Affirming Medical Care of Non Binary Youth by Abby Walch from the University of California San Francisco. The emphasis on "clinician perspectives" instead of rigorous patient outcomes and long-term studies, particularly concerning non-binary youth. The coalition notes that "non-binary youth" is a cohort for which there is no established evidence base to consider it a real, medically distinct population requiring such interventions, raising serious red flags about the current approach to care and the potential for over-medicalization without adequate evidence.
Impact of GnRH Agonist Therapy on Bone Density in a Eunuch Individual by Gowry Reddy, MD, from the University of Arizona College of Medicine. This presentation highlights a known, significant risk associated with GnRH agonist therapy (puberty blockers)—the loss of bone density. Furthermore, the coalition asserts that "eunuch individuals" are not a recognized medical cohort requiring or benefiting from such interventions and should instead receive appropriate mental health care, underscoring concerns about the medicalization of identity without a robust evidence base.
The coalition's action aims to highlight the increasing concerns from medical professionals, patient advocacy groups, and affected individuals regarding the rapid rise in gender-affirming medical interventions for minors, often with limited long-term follow-up data and insufficient exploration of underlying psychological factors.
Participants will gather at the Moscone Convention Center (747 Howard Street) on Saturday, July 12, and Sunday, July 13, from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM each day. They will engage in peaceful advocacy, distributing information and speaking with conference attendees and the public about the urgent need for a more cautious, evidence-based approach to pediatric gender medicine.
About LGB Courage Coalition:
The LGB Courage Coalition is a lesbian and gay advocacy group committed to promoting evidence-based medical care, ending the medicalization of gender nonconformity, safeguarding homosexual rights, and building a pathway back for LGB individuals who have undergone medicalization.
We believe no child should be subjected to the material harms caused by puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and “gender-affirming” surgeries.
Contact:
Lauren Leggieri and Jamie Reed
Website: lgbcouragecoalition.org
How anyone can possibly think the Endocrine Society is doing anything other than committing malpractice and medical fraud is beyond me. So grateful for your courage and dedication. I have restacked.
Great news! Thank you for all your hard work and persistence. And in the NYT yesterday: "In the United States, a coalition of critics of youth gender medicine from both the right and the left have argued for banning the treatments", with "the left" linking to LGBCC's website! That feels very big.