No, Children Aren’t Getting Gender-Affirming Surgeries at School

Despite what Trump might have you believe, children are not receiving gender-affirming surgeries during classroom hours.

During a rally last Saturday, Former President Trump made this bold yet incredibly false claim. He describes the procedures as “brutal operations.” This is not the first time Trump has made this claim, as he made a similar comment at the Moms for Liberty Summit on August 30. This comment is only the most recent in a pattern of transphobic rhetoric spouted by the former president. When misogynistic, racist, and transphobic hate was thrown at cisgender Olympian Imane Khelif, Trump says her inclusion and win are “demeaning to women.”

Even Trump’s allies realize the falsity in his words. When pressed by CNN for an explanation, conservative leaders could not confirm Trump’s claim. Even so, they chose to defend him. Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty who interviewed Trump at the summit, says of the claim: “It grabbed your attention, and we’re talking about it now, and that makes me very happy.” Thomas Jipping of the Heritage Foundation—the same organization behind Project 2025—says that Trump’s statement is “completely valid” since some children socially transition at school without their parents’ knowledge.

Gender-affirming surgeries are rarely performed on transgender youth, regardless of whether or not they occur in schools (which they don’t). Additionally, social transition is not equivalent to medical transition. Still, the spread of this misinformation leads to the restriction of what  gender-affirming care is available to trans youth. Over half of all anti-trans bills introduced in 2023 across the U.S. were targeted at trans youth. In July, the Texas Supreme Court upheld a bill which would deny puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy to trans children. This all culminates into a sharp increase in reported mental health problems among queer youth.

While Trump’s words are ridiculous even to his peers, that does not mean they are without impact.

Photo courtesy of Gints Ivuskans