Donald Trump repeats false claims about schools making kids trans

Donald Trump has continued to repeat his false claims at a Pennsylvania rally that schools are making kids trans by forcing them to undergo gender-affirming surgeries during school hours. 

In yet another anti-trans rant, the former president perpetuated a harmful claim that schools are forcing students to transition without their parents’ consent. There is nothing truthful about his claims.

He said on 9 October at a Reading, Pennsylvania rally: “Your child goes to school and they take your child: It was a he, and comes back a she. And they do this. And they do it, and often without parental consent. Can you even believe we’re saying this?”

Trump previously told similar claims, including one in which he said that a child may come home from school after having undergone a “brutal operation” to affirm their gender during school time.

On several occasions during a previous rally, Trump said schools had “changed the sex” of children, without – unsurprisingly – offering up any evidence for the wild claim.

“Can you imagine your child goes to school and they don’t even call you, and they change the sex of your child?” he said.

This is complete nonsense and a total fabrication. There are no reported instances, or any evidence, of children receiving major surgery on a whim at a school anywhere in the world. A fact-check by CNN said the Trump campaign “could not provide a single example of this ever happening.”

Not only that, but gender-affirming surgeries are seldom performed on children anywhere, let alone by a school nurse. They are performed only under strict guidance from doctors and are typically for teenagers who are in the process of switching to hormone therapy. Even then, these procedures are rarely related to genital reconstruction.

Trans healthcare, like puberty blockers, are “safe, effective and reversible,” according to an independent study by the Sax Institute. Furthermore, we also know that gender-affirming healthcare drastically improves the mental health and well-being of trans and non-binary people.

If this story has affected you, call the LGBT National Help Centre on 888 843 4564 Monday-Friday 1 pm-9 pm Pacific Time or 4 pm-Midnight Eastern Time or on Saturdays 9 am-2 pm Pacific Time or Noon-5 pm Eastern Time.