President Donald Trump has nominated an Alabama urologist with an extended report of anti-trans rhetoric — and a historical past of promoting gender-affirming care to transgender males — to exchange Rachel Levine in a high federal well being position. Levine is the primary transgender particular person confirmed by the U.S. Senate below the Biden administration.
Brian Christine, 61, has been chosen to function assistant secretary for well being on the Division of Well being and Human Providers. This place oversees key public health initiatives and was previously held by Levine. Christine’s nomination, which requires Senate affirmation, comes amid Trump’s escalating efforts to roll again LGBTQ+ rights throughout the federal authorities — and has already sparked an outcry from advocates who accuse Christine of hypocrisy and political opportunism.
Christine has spent latest years publicly denouncing gender-affirming take care of transgender youth, calling it “damaging” and falsely claiming it’s a part of a left-wing agenda to assault households, religion, and conventional gender roles.
In an October 2022 podcast episode, Christine described gender dysphoria as a “psychiatric situation” that ought to be handled with “corrective care” — together with counseling or “pastoral care” — slightly than medically supported gender affirmation. He accused “the left” of utilizing transgender youth “as pawns to problem conventional household” and “assault conventional faith and theology.”
But Christine — now searching for to steer nationwide well being coverage — has publicly denied ever treating transgender sufferers.
The Washington Put up reports that in a latest assertion launched by the White Home, Christine insisted: “I’ve by no means handled transgender ‘males’ for sexual dysfunction, both with remedy or surgical procedure. I’ve by no means carried out a surgical ‘transition’ of a person or lady. I’ve by no means prescribed hormones to a affected person with gender dysphoria or to assist in ‘transition.’ I’m not a specialist in transgender care. I don’t supply therapy to sufferers recognized with gender dysphoria.”
However The Wall Avenue Journal beforehand reported that Christine’s apply had explicitly marketed take care of transgender males. In a 2017 full-page ad in Peach ATL, an LGBTQ+ journal, Christine promoted “surgical therapy of erectile dysfunction in female-to-male transgender sufferers” and promised “no prejudice or bias, simply excellent care” for homosexual, cisgender, and transgender males alike. His now-deleted web site additionally listed take care of transgender males amongst his specialties in 2017, in line with an archived version, and a 2019 speaker biography at a urology convention equally highlighted his work treating transgender sufferers.
Main medical associations, together with the American Medical Affiliation, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychiatric Affiliation, agree that gender-affirming care is evidence-based, medically necessary, and sometimes lifesaving. Each main U.S. medical authority endorses this care—which can embrace puberty blockers, hormone remedy, or surgical procedures—for appropriately screened sufferers below skilled steerage.
Advocates known as the contradictions disqualifying.
In remarks to the Put up, Human Rights Campaign nationwide press secretary Brandon Wolf known as Christine’s nomination “an affront to the groundbreaking leaders who’ve served on this essential position and an insult to the communities he has thrown below the bus.”
Christine’s report stands in stark distinction to Levine, who, throughout her time in workplace, advocated for making certain entry to gender-affirming take care of all transgender folks, no matter age. Christine, in the meantime, has aligned himself with political assaults on transgender well being care — calling gender-affirming take care of youth “damaging,” evaluating it to malpractice, and falsely suggesting it’s a part of a government-driven plot.
His nomination now heads to the Senate Well being, Training, Labor, and Pensions Committee, the place Democrats — including Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, and Bernie Sanders of Vermont — will face strain to confront Christine’s report and previous statements. No listening to has but been scheduled.
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