Florida medical boards approved a rule to protect minors from harmful, body-disfiguring “transgender” drugs, hormones and surgeries.
After a five-hour meeting, the Joint Rules/Legislative Committee of the Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine voted to draft a rule safeguarding minors suffering from sexual identity confusion from the experimental procedures. The rule now goes to the full boards for approval.
The testimony included medical experts on both sides of the issue, transgender activists and a number of individuals who had “transitioned” to live as the opposite sex, then came to regret their decision. Many of them have since “detransitioned.”
Dr. Michael Laidlaw, a specialist in endocrinology, told the committee, “It’s important to note that studies have shown that desistance, or growing out of this condition of children, by adulthood, is very high. It’s some 50 to 98%.”
He explained that before giving someone powerful hormones or surgeries, we must be certain the patient has a disease. Then he explained there are no physical tests – such as brain imaging, genetic testing or biomarkers – to show that a child even has “gender dysphoria.”
“There is no such thing,” he emphatically stated.
Dr. Laidlaw explained that there are only two human sexes – male and female. Biologically, humans are sexually differentiated by about 12 weeks of development, he said, and puberty is the natural process that leads to physical maturity as a man or woman.
But blocking puberty “will necessarily lead to infertility,” while cross-sex hormones, given to a child over a prolonged period of time, leads to complete sterility. Removing the sex organs ensures sterility, Dr. Laidlaw emphasized.
He pointed to a Swedish study – the biggest study of the issue over 30 years – which examined 324 individuals who had gone through these procedures. He noted that suicidality, inpatient treatment for psychiatric issues, and the death rate for these individuals was higher than the general population and increased rapidly after about 10 years.
Individuals who were damaged by so-called “gender affirming” procedures also testified.
Chloe Cole was one such victim of the transgender-affirming medical establishment. Her testimony is painful to watch, as she describes how she was damaged by medical interventions.
Cole started taking puberty blockers and testosterone at age 13 and underwent a double mastectomy when she was only 15 years old.
Only a year later, when she was 16, she regretted her decision. She explained that no one helped her to address the underlying issues that drove the rejection of her femininity and her body.
Cole asked the very important question – one that’s been missing from much of the transgender debate:
Why is a mental health epidemic not being addressed with mental health treatment to get at the root causes of why, female adolescents like me, want to reject their bodies.
Another young woman, Camile Kiefel, spoke to the committee about being treated for mental health issues for 20 years, finding no healing. When she was in sixth grade, she said, her best friend was raped – traumatizing her and leading her to present as more masculine for her own protection.
At the age of 30, she transitioned to being “non-binary.” She had her breasts removed, which led to medical complications.
Kiefel said,
Today I am more grounded than I have been in my entire life. But I am mutilated.
Between my carved-up body and the physical complications, I often question if there is anything on the other side. Where my breasts were, are hollow. I can never get them back. I can never fit a dress the same way again. I can never breastfeed.
Who will love me?
She said what keeps her going is the desire to keep what happened to her from happening to other young girls and women.
Who will love me? It’s a haunting question.
Childhood and adolescence are extraordinarily difficult for many. Boys and girls who hate their bodies and their innate, natural masculinity or femininity need hope and healing – not transgender propaganda and medical interventions that are risky, experimental and damaging.
Transgender activists and their allies in the medical and psychological communities offer a harmful road that leads to destruction and despair.
Thankfully, the Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine are resisting transgender ideology and following a road that lead to truth, transformation and healing for individuals with sexual identity confusion.
As Christians we hold the truth these young people needed: God made humans male and female in His image and likeness; He loves you as you were born; and He has the power to bring healing and transformation to your brokenness and wounds.
Related articles and resources:
If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual identity confusion or transgenderism, and you don’t know where to turn, Focus on the Family is here to help.
Focus offers a one-time counseling consultation with a licensed or pastoral counselor free of charge thanks to generous donor support. If you would like to request a consultation with Focus’ Counseling Department, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) weekdays from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM (Mountain Time) or complete our Counseling Consultation Request Form.
Focus on the Family:
Get Help: Transgender Resources
Helping Children with Gender Identity Confusion
Talking to Your Children About Transgender Issues
Daily Citizen:
American Academy of Pediatrics Captured by Gender Ideology; Mainstream Professionals Are Calling Them Out
Are Sex and Gender Different Things?
A Singularly Christian View of the Transgender Problem
Boston Children’s Hospital Under Fire for ‘Transgender’ Interventions That Damage and Disfigure Children
U.K. ‘Gender Clinic’ Faces Civil Lawsuit
What Are Male and Female in God’s Story?
World’s Largest Youth Trans Clinic Shuts Down Over Poor Science
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