I recently wrote about one of the biggest red flags of all:  Those who seek to shut down conversation on important topics.  Now this news regarding efforts by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to shut down conversation regarding the proper treatment for those seeking advice and treatment for transgender issues.

[US BREAKING NEWS: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is suppressing support for Resolution 27, a call by member pediatricians for “rigorous systematic review of evidence and policy update for management of pediatric gender dysphoria”. Our response].  

Here is an excerpt from Genspect’s open letter to AAP:

Having a combative teenager who urgently insists on something or makes risky choices is not a new development for any parent of an adolescent. What is new is that professionals to whom we have entrusted our kids, rather than safeguarding them from harm and helping heal parental-child rifts so common in teen years, are encouraging our kids to act on their risky, impulsive decisions with irreversible consequences.

It is long past due for the AAP to address this issue, and we were pleased to see that Resolution 27, introduced by several AAP pediatrician members, finally addressed this. However, we were very disappointed to learn that the AAP leadership chose to specifically disallow pediatrician comments on Resolution 27, omitting it from the list in the link sent to pediatricians soliciting their comments. We understand that this is due to a “new rule” that “unsponsored” resolutions cannot be commented on. It is alarming that not a single chapter or committee within the AAP was willing to “sponsor” a resolution that asks to conduct a non-partisan and systematic review of evidence in pediatric gender medicine – something the AAP has never done. It is even more alarming that the AAP appears to be preemptively suppressing debate by not allowing comments on “unsponsored” resolutions, a rule that did not exist last year when a similar “unsponsored” resolution got many supportive pediatrician votes and comments.

We thus call on you to open up comments on Resolution 27 and vote to adopt it at your upcoming August Annual Leadership Conference. It is time to update the 2018 AAP Policy using an open and transparent process, following the example of the non-partisan Cass Review in the UK. Such a process should start with a truly independent, unbiased, thorough review of the evidence—exactly what Resolution 27 asks for. It should then proceed to the AAP membership, carefully listening to all sides of this debate without judgment. However, the AAP should not only listen to doctors, parents, and patients who believe in the benefits of “affirming” social and medical transition for minors. You should also invite those who disagree and those who have been harmed, including detransitioners and desisters, parents of youth whose health plummeted while being medicalized, as well as the clinicians and researchers who, based on the international evidence, question the AAP’s official position. The ranks of all these groups are rapidly growing. The accumulated evidence is also being recognized by important mainstream media such as the New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Examiner, 60 Minutes, and others, with more balanced coverage that we hope the AAP is taking into consideration.