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Tennessee implemented a ban on gender-affirming care following the opening of a transgender care clinic at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2018. After several years, conservative groups pushed for an investigation into the clinic.
Written by Emily Cochrane
In 2018, Vanderbilt University Medical Center quietly revealed the opening of a new clinic specifically for transgender individuals. The announcement was brief, consisting of only four paragraphs with information about the clinic’s location, operating hours, and the names of two key staff members.
Four years later, attention was brought to the clinic by Matt Walsh, a conservative political commentator at The Daily Wire in Nashville. He wrote posts and created videos discussing the clinic, claiming that a staff member had referred to gender-affirming medication and surgery as profit-making tools and used harsh language to describe the treatments offered at the center.
The medical center, which is not affiliated with Vanderbilt University, disagreed. They stated that the clinic’s purpose was to provide care for a group of people who are at high risk for mental and physical health problems and have not received adequate attention from the U.S. healthcare system.
The hospital stated that they do not treat children under the age of 18 without parental consent, and they will not require any staff member to provide care they are morally or religiously opposed to.
The clinic came under scrutiny from conservatives, prompting Republican leaders to attend a rally organized by Mr. Walsh in Nashville in October 2022, which opposed gender-affirming care for children. In January 2023, Tennessee legislators introduced Senate Bill 1, aiming to ban gender-affirming care. Despite objections from transgender individuals and most Democrats, the bill was passed.
Emily Cochrane is a journalist who reports for The Times, focusing on news from the southern United States. She is located in Nashville.
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