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The opening of a new transgender care clinic at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2018 led to an investigation by conservatives in Tennessee years later, resulting in a ban on gender-affirming care in the state.
Authored by Emily Cochr
In 2018, Vanderbilt University Medical Center quietly announced the opening of a new transgender clinic. The announcement was brief, providing only basic information such as the clinic’s location, operating hours, and the names of two senior staff members.
Four years later, Matt Walsh, a conservative political commentator at The Daily Wire in Nashville, gained attention when he published multiple posts and videos discussing a clinic. In these posts, he claimed that a staff member at the clinic had referred to gender-affirming medication and surgery as profit-driven and used harsh language to criticize the center’s treatments.
The medical center, which is not affiliated with Vanderbilt University, responded by saying that the clinic’s main goal is to provide healthcare services to a group of people who are at high risk for mental and physical health problems and have historically not received adequate care within the United States healthcare system.
The hospital stated that they do not treat children under 18 without parental consent, and they will not require any staff member to provide care against their personal or religious beliefs.
Those with conservative views demanded a scrutiny of the clinic, and Republican officials made speeches at a rally arranged by Mr. Walsh in Nashville in October 2022 to protest against gender-affirming treatments for children. In January 2023, when Tennessee lawmakers gathered, they introduced a bill labeled as Senate Bill 1, which aimed to ban gender-affirming care. Despite opposition from transgender individuals and the majority of Democrats, the bill was approved.
Emily Cochrane is a journalist who works for The Times and focuses on reporting news in the southern region of the United States. She is located in Nashville.
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