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In 2018, Vanderbilt University Medical Center opened a clinic specifically for transgender care. After a few years, conservative groups requested an investigation into the clinic’s practices, leading to Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care.
Written by Emily Cochrane
In 2018, Vanderbilt University Medical Center announced the opening of a new clinic specifically for transgender individuals. However, the announcement was not widely publicized as it only included basic information such as the clinic’s location, operating hours, and the names of two senior staff members.
Four years later, the clinic gained attention when Matt Walsh, a conservative political commentator from The Daily Wire in Nashville, created a series of posts and videos discussing the clinic. In these posts, it was claimed that a staff member at the clinic had referred to gender-affirming medication and surgery as profit-driven and used harsh language to describe the treatments offered at the center.
The medical center, not affiliated with Vanderbilt University, disagreed. In a statement, the center explained that their clinic’s goal was to help a population at high risk for mental and physical health problems who have historically not received adequate care from the U.S. 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 if it goes against their personal or religious beliefs.
The clinic came under scrutiny from conservatives, and Republican officials appeared at a rally organized by Mr. Walsh in Nashville in October 2022 to protest against gender-affirming care for children. In January 2023, Tennessee lawmakers met and introduced a bill, known as Senate Bill 1, that aimed to ban gender-affirming care. Despite opposition from transgender individuals and the majority of Democrats, the bill was successfully passed.
Emily Cochrane is a journalist working for The Times who reports on news from the American South and is located in Nashville. For additional information on Emily Cochrane, please visit
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