In a video released, former President Donald Trump vowed that if he wins another term, he will penalize doctors who provide gender-affirming care to minors and encourage schools to teach “positive education about the nuclear family” and “the roles of mothers and fathers.” This would be part of a larger agenda to use federal power to limit support for transgender individuals.
In a direct-to-camera statement on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he would direct multiple federal agencies to intervene and ultimately “stop” gender-affirming care for minors, equating it to “child abuse” and “child sexual mutilation.”
Trump further indicated that he would ban any federal agency from endorsing “the concept of sex and gender transition at any age,” not just for minors.
These proposals will likely encounter strong resistance from LGBTQ rights advocates, who argue that such measures are harmful to transgender individuals.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, gender-affirming care includes various services such as medical, mental health, and supportive services for transgender and nonbinary people.
Trump’s plans are among the strictest in comparison to recent state-level measures, even proposing a federal law that would recognize only two genders.
He outlined additional proposals, including pushing Congress to pass a nationwide ban on gender-affirming care for minors, instructing the Justice Department to investigate pharmaceutical companies and hospitals for allegedly “covering up long-term side effects of sex transitions for profit,” and barring doctors from Medicare and Medicaid if they provide hormones or surgeries to transgender youth.
He also stated he would simplify the process for individuals who regret receiving gender-affirming care as minors to sue their providers, labeling such procedures as “unforgivable.”
His policies would extend to education as well.
Trump reiterated his intention to establish a “new credentialing body for teachers” focused on the teaching of family roles and gender differences, adding that the Education Department would impose “severe consequences” on educators or school officials who “suggest to a child that they could be trapped in the wrong body.” This could involve civil rights penalties against individuals and federal funding cuts for schools.