Transgender health care misinformation

False and misleading claims about gender diversity, gender dysphoria, and gender-affirming healthcare have been used to legislatively restrict transgender people's healthcare.^[1][2] The claims have primarily relied on manufactured uncertainty generated by various conservative religious organisations pseudoscientific or discredited researchers, and anti-trans activists.^[3]

Common false claims include that most people who transition regret it, that most pre-pubertal transgender children "desist" and cease desiring transition after puberty, that gender dysphoria can be socially contagious and rapid-onset or caused by mental illness, that medical organizations are pushing youth to transition, and that transgender youth require conversion therapies such as gender exploratory therapy.^[4][5][6]

In December 2024, over 26 states in the United States and the Canadian province of Alberta have banned gender-affirming care for youth and the United Kingdom had banned puberty blockers for transgender youth based on the Cass Review, which made misleading claims.^[1] Elected officials in Central and South America have called for legislative bans on on trans healthcare based on false claims. Misinformation has been platformed and amplified by mainstream media outlets.^[7] Medical organizations such as the Endocrine Society and American Psychological Association, among others, have released statements opposing such bans and the misinformation behind them.