An Anti-LGBT Hate Group Is Calling Themselves "Pediatricians" To Attack Transgender Youth

Necessary all-caps: THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT SCIENTISTS. THEY ARE A HATE GROUP. American College of Pediatricians

In today's Things That Make Me Sick news: The American College of Pediatricians – a national anti-LGBT, anti-choice, anti-sex organization – released a statement yesterday, saying that it is harmful to accept transgender children's identities.

From ThinkProgress:

“The American College of Pediatricians urges educators and legislators to reject all policies that condition children to accept as normal a life of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex,” the statement reads. “Facts – not ideology – determine reality.” The “facts” that follow actually reflect a social conservative ideology that rejects the very reality of what transgender children experience. For example, the statement not-so-subtly concludes that all transgender people must be mentally ill. “A person’s belief that he or she is something they are not is, at best, a sign of confused thinking,” the statement reads. “When an otherwise healthy biological boy believes he is a girl, or an otherwise healthy biological girl believes she is a boy, an objective psychological problem exists that lies in the mind not the body, and it should be treated as such.”

Let's be clear: "The ACP is not a legitimate medical organization; its name is designed to be mistaken for the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is a national organization with some 60,000 members. The ACP, by contrast, is estimated to have no more than 200 members, and it has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its anti-LGBT positions," ThinkProgress reports. (Emphasis mine.)

And the group's rhetoric is dangerous:

Plenty of conservative publications have already promoted [the ACP's claim], taking it at face value to claim that the “transgender agenda” constitutes “child abuse.” [Trans activist Brinn] Tannehill notes, “I’m also already hearing from parents of transgender children that relatives and people hostile to them in the community are using this position statement to threaten to report them to child protective services and take their children away.” Conservative advocacy groups are also quickly embracing the statement. For example, the group Stop Common Core in Michigan sent out an alert on Monday using the ACP’s position to rally opposition to guidelines drafted by the Michigan Department of Education that would protect transgender students. The Illinois Family Institute and Wisconsin Family Action (WFA) have also promoted the policy statement. WFA president Julaine Appling praised the statement as coming from a “medical group.”

This is horrifying – and patently untrue.

(Bolding because it's important.)

The statement not-so-subtly concludes that all transgender people must be mentally ill. “A person’s belief that he or she is something they are not is, at best, a sign of confused thinking,” the statement reads. “When an otherwise healthy biological boy believes he is a girl, or an otherwise healthy biological girl believes she is a boy, an objective psychological problem exists that lies in the mind not the body, and it should be treated as such.” Support The Stranger More than ever, we depend on your support to help fund our coverage. Support local, independent media with a one-time or recurring donation. Thank you! The 36,000-member American Psychiatric Association, which defines mental illnesses through its Diagnostics and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), says the exact opposite, explaining, “It is important to note that gender nonconformity is not in itself a mental disorder.” It is only distress associated with such an identity that should be treated — and treated with affirmation. ... A recent study found that trans kids whose parents embrace their identities are as happy and healthy as their peers.

Violence against transgender people in the United States was at a record high in 2015 with 21 homicides reported. False reports like those of the ACP only help perpetuate this kind of violence.