On July 9, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission hosted an event titled “The Dangers of Gender-Affirming Care for Minors.” It was billed as a neutral public workshop. It was anything but.
Featuring a curated list of anti-trans speakers, fringe physicians, politically aligned lawyers, and ideologically driven activists, the event advanced one central claim: that gender-affirming care is dangerous, fraudulent, and harmful. The word they chose to weaponize above all others was “mutilation.”
If you want to understand just how deeply this slur has taken root, search the word “mutilation” on Twitter. You’ll find thousands of posts accusing transgender youth, adults, doctors, and parents of engaging in violence against the body. You’ll see it parroted by pundits, influencers, and lawmakers. And you’ll notice how the timing isn’t a coincidence. These narratives are being seeded and spread with clear intent: to strip rights away under the guise of protection.
This article will walk you through the facts behind gender-affirming care, dismantle the most harmful lies, and offer tools to push back against the coordinated smear campaign threatening transgender lives.
What Gender-Affirming Care Actually Is
Gender-affirming care includes a range of evidence-based medical, psychological, and social services that support a person’s gender identity. For minors, this often means access to puberty blockers and, later, hormone therapy if needed. Surgeries are not recommended for youth except in extremely rare medical circumstances, and all interventions are guided by rigorous mental health evaluations and ethical oversight.
Puberty blockers are fully reversible and give youth and families time to explore care options without the added stress of irreversible puberty changes. Hormone therapy is only introduced when appropriate and after thorough discussion with qualified providers.
Care is not rushed. It is not experimental. And it is never without informed consent. The goal is not to convert someone to a different identity. It is to allow someone to live as themselves.
The Trump Strategy: Weaponizing “Mutilation” for Political Gain
The FTC workshop is not an isolated event. It is part of a broader campaign backed by former Trump officials and MAGA-aligned institutions to roll back trans rights using the most emotionally charged language possible.
Following the event, several panelists and supporters appeared on conservative news outlets repeating the same line: “gender-affirming care is child mutilation.” These talking points are intentionally designed to provoke outrage, not inform policy. They are working. Public support for transgender rights has declined in recent polling, especially among moderate voters who are being misled by fear-based narratives.
By labeling transgender healthcare as “mutilation,” these talking points bypass nuance and reduce trans people to caricatures of suffering. It is easier to ban a procedure if the public is led to believe it is abuse, not medicine. That’s the strategy: escalate the rhetoric until people are too scared to defend the truth.
Christian Nationalism and the Real Agenda
Many of the voices featured at the July 9 workshop have deep ties to Christian nationalist organizations. Groups like the Heritage Foundation, the American Principles Project, and The Christian Post have openly stated their belief that trans identities are incompatible with so-called traditional family values.
This agenda is not about protecting children. It is about enforcing religious doctrine through public policy. These groups have long histories of opposing LGBTQ+ rights and reproductive freedoms. When their ideologies are given federal platforms, they threaten the constitutional separation between church and state and promote discrimination under the false banner of morality.
Their belief is not just that gender-affirming care is bad. It’s that trans people shouldn’t exist. That’s what’s really being protected when they talk about children: a rigid view of the world where gender never changes and people like us are erased.
Why “Mutilation” Is a Lie and a Dangerous One
Mutilation is a word that implies disfigurement, harm, and non-consensual violence. It is a term historically used to control and stigmatize marginalized bodies. From abortion to intersex surgeries to forced sterilizations, “mutilation” has long been a slur hurled at people whose autonomy offends those in power.
Gender-affirming care is none of those things. It is consensual, therapeutic, and evidence-based. It does not disfigure; it aligns. It does not harm; it heals. And it is never forced. Using this word to describe transgender healthcare is a rhetorical assault meant to dehumanize.
When a politician or pundit uses that word, they aren’t trying to protect anyone. They are trying to make you look in the mirror and see a monster instead of a person. That is the power of language, and that is why we must call it out.
The False Limb Argument
Anti-trans activists often say, “You wouldn’t amputate a healthy limb just because someone wanted it.” This comparison is meant to shock, but it fundamentally misunderstands both gender dysphoria and medical ethics.
The condition they’re referencing is called Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID), an extremely rare mental health issue in which individuals feel that a limb doesn’t belong to their body. BIID is not the same as gender dysphoria, which is a recognized medical condition treated through established protocols.
Gender dysphoria causes real psychological distress. Gender-affirming care improves functioning, reduces mental health crises, and saves lives. It is not a disorder to feel discomfort in your body because of gender dysphoria. It is a medically understood and treatable condition. Conflating it with BIID is not only medically inaccurate but also cruel.
What About Regret?
Another common tactic is to highlight stories of regret. While any medical procedure can result in dissatisfaction, the regret rate for gender-affirming surgery is remarkably low. Research shows that fewer than 1 to 2 percent of trans people who undergo surgery regret their decision. For context, knee replacement surgeries have higher regret rates.
Media coverage often amplifies the rare cases of regret while ignoring the overwhelming number of people whose lives have improved. Regret should never be used to justify a ban. Instead, it highlights the importance of quality care, informed consent, and patient-centered decision-making. In contrast, bans and forced detransitions create more regret, not less.
Regret stories are not reasons to legislate against care. They are reasons to invest in better support, more thorough evaluations, and access to affirming mental health professionals.
Cisgender People Get These Surgeries All the Time
Mastectomies, hysterectomies, breast implants, facial contouring, and hormone therapies are all routinely performed on cisgender individuals. When these surgeries are done for non-trans reasons, no one calls them mutilation.
The difference isn’t the procedure. It’s the patient. When trans people make the same choices cis people are praised for, they’re attacked. That is not about medicine. That is about prejudice.
In fact, cisgender people often access these procedures more easily and without the level of scrutiny trans people face. There is no national panic when a cis woman gets a breast reduction. But a trans man doing the same thing is suddenly framed as a public threat.
The Real Science
Major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association, and the Endocrine Society, all support gender-affirming care.
Why? Because it works. Studies show that trans people who receive affirming care have significantly lower rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Youth who are supported in their identities thrive. Those denied care often suffer severe mental health consequences.
Research continues to affirm what trans people have always known: being seen and respected in your identity is a powerful form of healing. Medical transition is not the right path for every trans person, but for those who need it, it can be life-saving.
This care is not fringe. It is not experimental. It is standard, science-backed treatment.
How This Language Harms Trans Youth
Words have power. Calling gender-affirming care “mutilation” tells trans youth they are broken, grotesque, and unworthy of support. It isolates them. It shames them. And it discourages them from seeking life-saving care.
Trans youth already face disproportionate rates of suicide, bullying, and family rejection. When public figures echo the term “mutilation,” they are pushing these kids further into silence and despair.
One young trans teen put it best: “They called me mutilated before I even knew who I was. I started to believe them.”
When our healthcare is stigmatized, our futures are erased. Young people need support, not scare tactics. They need access, not shame.
How to Respond: Talking Points and Strategies
Whether you’re trans yourself or an ally, you don’t have to stay silent. Here are ways to push back:
- “It’s not mutilation. It’s medicine.”
- “Every major medical organization supports this care.”
- “You wouldn’t say that to a breast cancer survivor.”
- “You’re spreading fear, not facts.”
When engaging with others, especially online:
- Stay calm and grounded in evidence.
- Share personal stories when appropriate.
- Avoid arguing with bad-faith actors. Focus on educating the persuadable.
You are not obligated to debate your existence. But if you choose to speak up, know that you have truth, science, and lived experience on your side.
What You Can Do: Push Back with Power
Knowledge is important, but action is power. Here are real ways you can help:
- Contact your elected officials. Demand they oppose anti-trans legislation.
- Share accurate information and personal stories on social media.
- Support trans-led organizations, mutual aid funds, and clinics.
- Show up. Attend rallies. Testify at school boards. Vote.
If you’re a parent, talk to your child’s school about inclusion. If you’re a healthcare provider, educate your peers. If you’re in media, challenge the language being used.
Every action counts. Your voice matters. When we speak together, we push back harder than they ever expected.
The Bottom Line
To every trans person reading this: You are not mutilated. You are not broken. You are not shameful. You are whole. You are worthy. You are surviving a world that was never built for you. And you are not alone.
They fear your freedom because they cannot control it. Let them fear. We will keep living, loving, healing, and fighting. And we will win.
