The American College of Pediatricians is an LGBT Hate Group
A small but clever hate group created a legit-sounding name to attack LGBT kids.
Once again, the 'ACP' seems to be the only group of physicians
holding this stance, with the American Academy of Child & Adolescent
Psychiatry, The American Academy of Pediatrics, The American Medical
Association, The American Psychiatric Association, and the American Psychoanalytic Association (again to name only a few) vehemently disagreeing. The American Psychological Association dispels false claims on the topic by the ACP here for those who are interested in learning more.
3. Affirming Transgender Youth in a Bad Idea
Perhaps the most popular falsehood1,2 spread by the 'ACP' recently is its claim that transgender youth who are supported in their transgender identities are caused harm by this affirmation. Again, the group ignores major studies. In the journal Pediatrics in 2014, researchers showed that pubertal blockade and cross-sex hormones resulted in improved mental health for transgender youth. In 2016 and 2017, two papers showed that transgender children who are supported in their identities and allowed to socially transition have developmentally normal rates of anxiety, depression, and self worth. This is a far cry from suggesting that social transition is dangerous. Furthermore, transgender individuals whose families do not support their transgender identity are 20% more likely to attempt suicide.
I encourage news organizations and individuals to stop propagating the repeatedly denounced and factually incorrect reports from this organization. The health of LGBT youth depends on it.
Footnotes (and examples of how the 'ACP' misleads readers and policymakers):
1. The 'ACP', in this report, claims that 97.8% of prepubescent transgender children change their minds about being transgender after they hit puberty. This is based on a study from 1987, and researchers explain here why such studies are flawed (the gist is that the kids in that study and others were never transgender to begin with). Furthermore, pre-pubertal children do not receive hormonal interventions under Endocrine Society Guidelines. Only adolescents who have reached puberty do, and all existing literature suggests that transgender identity is stable after kids hit puberty (Cohen-Kettenis 2003, deVries 2014).
2. The 'ACP' claims that hormonal interventions make it impossible for transgender individuals to have biological children. This is false, and transgender teens receiving hormonal interventions are offered fertility preservation measures as explained.
3. Affirming Transgender Youth in a Bad Idea
Perhaps the most popular falsehood1,2 spread by the 'ACP' recently is its claim that transgender youth who are supported in their transgender identities are caused harm by this affirmation. Again, the group ignores major studies. In the journal Pediatrics in 2014, researchers showed that pubertal blockade and cross-sex hormones resulted in improved mental health for transgender youth. In 2016 and 2017, two papers showed that transgender children who are supported in their identities and allowed to socially transition have developmentally normal rates of anxiety, depression, and self worth. This is a far cry from suggesting that social transition is dangerous. Furthermore, transgender individuals whose families do not support their transgender identity are 20% more likely to attempt suicide.
I encourage news organizations and individuals to stop propagating the repeatedly denounced and factually incorrect reports from this organization. The health of LGBT youth depends on it.
Footnotes (and examples of how the 'ACP' misleads readers and policymakers):
1. The 'ACP', in this report, claims that 97.8% of prepubescent transgender children change their minds about being transgender after they hit puberty. This is based on a study from 1987, and researchers explain here why such studies are flawed (the gist is that the kids in that study and others were never transgender to begin with). Furthermore, pre-pubertal children do not receive hormonal interventions under Endocrine Society Guidelines. Only adolescents who have reached puberty do, and all existing literature suggests that transgender identity is stable after kids hit puberty (Cohen-Kettenis 2003, deVries 2014).
2. The 'ACP' claims that hormonal interventions make it impossible for transgender individuals to have biological children. This is false, and transgender teens receiving hormonal interventions are offered fertility preservation measures as explained.
It is disturbing that news organizations and physicians are citing the 'ACP' as a reputable source. The 'ACP' is a small group of physicians that left the AAP after the AAP released a 2002 policy statement explaining that gay parents pose no risk to adopted children. The Southern Poverty Law Center has repeatedly labeled the 'ACP' as a hate group that promotes false news and fabricated scientific reports. Perhaps more chilling, the group has moved beyond its online reports, deeper into the political arena. They have begun filing amicus briefs to US courts for major cases concerning LGBT rights. Their reports have gained traction, despite clear criticism from physicians with actual expertise in the field. When asked about the 'ACP,' Dr. Scott Leibowitz, medical director of the THRIVE program at Nationwide Children's Hospital and chair of the sexual orientation and gender identity issues committee for the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, did not parse his words, "It can hardly be a credible medical organization when it consistently chooses to ignore science and the growing evidence base that clearly demonstrates the benefits of affirmative care with LGBT youth across all ages."
Below are a few false statements propagated by the 'ACP' that have the potential to harm LGBT youth:
1. Reparative Therapy for Homosexual Youth Is a Good Idea
Reparative therapy refers to an attempt to change an individual’s sexual orientation (generally from homosexual to heterosexual). In 2010, the 'ACP' sent a letter to 14,000 school district superintendents promoting reparative therapy for gay and lesbian students. In the letter, they incorrectly cite NIH director Francis Collins MD PhD, who swiftly denounced their letter as misleading and dangerous.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, The American Psychiatric Association, The American College of Physicians, and The American Medical Association (to name a few) have labeled reparative therapy dangerous and unethical. Reparative therapy has been repeatedly shown not to be effective at changing sexual orientation, and non-acceptance of a youth’s sexual orientation dramatically increases the risk of suicide, depression, and substance abuse.
2. Gay Parents are Bad Parents
This was the reason that the 'ACP' originally formed. The American Academy of Pediatrics explained in 2002, citing a range of literature, that children of gay and lesbian parents have the same potential for health, adjustment, and development as children whose parents are heterosexual. In response, the 'ACP' ignored key literature and issued a non-peer-reviewed report under its new legitimate-sounding new name: “The American College of Pediatricians.”