U.S. Rep. Mary Miller (R-Oakland) blasted gender-affirming healthcare guidelines issued by Health and Humans Services (HHS) on Transgender Day of Visibility.
In a tweet sent on April 8, Miller said the Biden Administration was “encouraging children to take chemical castration drugs and undergo surgeries” and that puberty blockers weren’t reversible. Both of those statements are lies.
The attack is striking similar to a fundraising letter sent out by the Log Cabin Republicans.
The guidelines were developed with resources from The Trevor Project, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Columbia University and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network among other legal and medical organizations.
HHS guidelines, available here, do not call for gender-affirming surgery on minors. Surgery is only recommended for adults if needed. Not all transgender people need surgery for dysphoria. The only gender-affirming care recommended for both adults and children is social affirmation, where a person dresses as their gender identity and use pronouns. Medical care, the use of puberty blockers, doesn’t happen until puberty and is reversible. All the care is done with consent of the trans people and under the care of medical professionals.
The American Medical Association has sited a 2018 study in the Journal of Adolescent Health that found transgender youth who could use accurate names and pronouns, the most basic gender-affirming care, experienced 71% fewer symptoms of severe depression, a 34% drop in reported suicidal thoughts and a 65% decrease in suicide attempts.
This is not the first time Miller has made transphobic actions.
In February 2021, just a month after being sworn in, co-sponsored a bill to define sex in Title IX as biological sex, not gender identity. It was the first bill she sponsored.
In May 2021, she shared a transphobic story from the right-wing Daily Wire about students in Connecticut suing the state for allowing trans people to compete in sports for their gender.
In July 2021, she invited U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-Ga.) to speak at a campaign fundraiser. Greene has posted transphobic statements of her own. During her speech, Greene attacked the transgender daughter of fellow representative Marie Newman (D-La Grange).
“Her so-called daughter is a trans, biological adult son, approximately close to the same age as my two, very much biological real girls – daughters,” Greene said according to Illinois Newsroom. “I call her Marie Newperson. ‘Cause she doesn’t believe in gender! I don’t want to offend her, so I changed her name from Newman to Newperson…She is very confused. As a matter of fact, so is her son.”
In October 2021, she signed a letter to U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona that stated allowing “biological males to use female bathrooms” put children at risk of sexual assault. The letter was in response the department confirming LGBTQ protections in schools in June, reversing a Trump administration order.
Miller is currently running in for the Republican nomination for the new 15th district against Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville). Miller had represented the 15th district before the recent redistricting. Redistricting moved Davis from the 13th district to the 15th and eliminated Miller’s seat since Illinois also lost a representative after the 2020 census.
Her next campaign fundraiser is on April 27 at Mar-a-Lago in Florida with special guest Donald Trump.