Researcher behind Trump-ordered gender dysphoria report outs himself, doubles down that medical transitions for minors isn't ethical

New York Post

4 days ago

An anonymous researcher behind a bombshell Trump-ordered review of transgender treatments on minors has outed himself as a liberal MIT professor — as he doubled down on the report's findings that medical intervention on underage kids isn't 'empirically or ethically justified.'
Alex Byrne, a philosophy professor at the elite Massachusetts school, revealed in a Washington Post op-ed Thursday that he was among the nine co-authors of the sweeping Department of Health and Human Services report published last month that found gender dysphoria among young patients should be treated with therapy instead of transition treatments.
Byrne, who described himself as 'hardly a fan of the current administration' and noted he'd never voted Republican, insisted the HHS' Gender Dysphoria Report wasn't 'written by zealots busily grinding axes' — despite outraged critics on the left immediately ripping the review.
Alex Byrne, a philosophy professor at MIT, was among the nine co-authors of the sweeping report published last month that found gender dysphoria should be treated with therapy instead of transition treatments for children.
alexbyrne.org
Instead, he argued that the report — which was sparked by one of Trump's early executive orders but written by a liberal majority — offered up a 'sober examination of what by any standards are drastic medical interventions for physically healthy minors.'
'After surveying all the evidence, and applying widely accepted principles of medical ethics, we found that medical transition for minors is not empirically or ethically justified,' Byrne wrote, noting that the findings were in alignment with scores of other reports commissioned by health authorities in other countries — including the UK.
'The review describes how the medicalized 'gender affirming care' approach to treating pediatric gender distress, endorsed by the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, rests on very weak evidence,' he continued.
'Puberty blockers followed by cross-sex hormones compromise fertility and may cause lifelong sexual dysfunction (among other adverse effects); surgeries such as mastectomies remove healthy tissue and carry known risks of complications. Medical procedures always have downsides, but in this case no reliable research indicates that these treatments are beneficial to minors' mental health.'
Byrne, who described himself as 'hardly a fan of the current administration' and noted he'd never voted Republican, insisted the HHS' Gender Dysphoria Report wasn't 'written by zealots busily grinding axes'.
AP
Among the transgender interventions in children that were scrutinized in the HHS report included the use of puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries.
The report, which is still undergoing a peer-review, fueled immediate outrage among liberals and trans activists when it was published.
Byrne acknowledged much of the fury stemmed from the authors remaining anonymous — a move he said was made amid fears of 'personal attacks or professional penalties' given the divisive nature of the gender dysphoria treatments debate.
He was adamant though that the cohort could 'produce a rigorous, well-argued document' given the wide-ranging expertise of those involved — including experts in endocrinology, psychiatry, health policy and general medicine.
'The hostile response to the review by medical groups and practitioners underscores why it was necessary. Medicalized treatment for pediatric gender dysphoria needs to be dispassionately scrutinized like any other area of medicine, no matter which side of the aisle is cheering it on. But in the United States, it has not been,' he said.
'It deserves to be read by people of all political leanings. Whether its early critics bothered to do so is unclear.'