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An image form the National Trans Visibility March in Washington, DC in 2019. Photo credit: Ted Eytan

An image form the National Trans Visibility March in Washington, DC in 2019. Photo credit: Ted Eytan

November 29, 2022

Debunking Common Myths About Gender-Affirming Care for Youth

Ask Students: Where are some of the places where legislation has been proposed to restrict healthcare for young trans patients? How much has the number of young people identifying as transgender grown since 2017, according to this story?

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Summary

The number of youth who openly identify as transgender has nearly doubled since 2017, according to a study from UCLA’s Williams Institute. In 2022, 16 states have proposed legislation that would restrict access to gender-affirming care for patients under the age of 18. Dr. Meredithe McNamara, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, joins Geoff Bennett to discuss. For a transcript of this story, click here.

Remote video URL

Discussion Questions

  • Who is interviewed in this story, and what is her background?
  • Where are some of the places where legislation has been proposed to restrict healthcare for young trans patients?
  • How much has the number of young people identifying as transgender grown since 2017, according to this story?
  • Why might it seem as though more young people are identifying as transgender according to Dr. McNamara?
  • What are some of the myths or misconceptions about healthcare for trans youth, according to this story?

Focus Questions

Dr. McNamara says that the increase in number of young people identifying as trans may be related to more comfort in reporting instead of an increase in number of trans youth. What are the risks of people believing that the number of trans youth is increasing “exponentially” according to Dr. McNamara?

Media Literacy: Who else would you want to hear from to better understand the challenges faced by trans youth?

LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Educator Resources

Support and celebrate LGBTQIA+ students and inspire meaningful advocacy with these free lesson plans, activities and educator resources.

Republished with permission from PBS NewsHour Classroom.

PBS NewsHour Classroom

PBS NewsHour Classroom helps teachers and students identify the who, what, where and why-it-matters of the major national and international news stories.

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