The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday held a workshop that public health experts and LGBTQ+ advocates condemned as a government-sponsored disinformation campaign, bringing together a lineup of anti-trans activists, attorneys, and right-wing medical professionals to attack gender-affirming care for transgender youth.FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson framed the event as an investigation into potential fraud and deception in medical treatment, just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Courts landmark U.S. v. Skrmetti ruling upheld Tennessees ban on gender-affirming care for minors. That decision, which civil rights groups have called a devastating blow, opened the door for more than two dozen states to enforce similar prohibitions on puberty blockers and hormone therapy, despite decades of medical consensus supporting such care as safe and effective.Ferguson, who previously served as chief counsel to former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and as Virginias solicitor general, opened the workshop with a blistering critique of the Biden administration and gender-affirming care providers. He alleged that the administration pressured the World Professional Association for Transgender Health to remove age minimums for hormones and surgeries from its guidelines to avoid fueling legislative bans. Science was beside the point, Ferguson said. They cared about politics. They didnt care about people.Related: Trump signs executive order banning federal support of gender-affirming care for anyone under 19Describing gender-affirming care as rife with modern snake oil salesmen, Ferguson claimed that families were being lured by the promise of a fail-safe cure for mental health problems while being kept in the dark about the permanent and irreversible effects of medical transitioning. He recounted emotionally charged stories from individuals who regret their transitions, saying, These are not stories of liberation but of desperation.All major medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the Endocrine Society, and the American Psychiatric Association, broadly endorse gender-affirming care, including for minors, as evidence-based and effective.Ferguson declared it the FTCs duty to investigate claims around gender-affirming care. We are here to ensure that everyone can make an informed choice about their own path to healing without fear of being deceived by those who stand to profit from certain medical interventions, he said. Americans have a right to health claims substantiated by reliable scientific evidence no matter how politically charged.Dr. Rachel Levine, who served as assistant secretary for health during the Biden administration and is the highest-ranking out transgender federal official in U.S. history, told our sister brand The Advocate that the workshop was the product of the Project 2025 playbook developed by conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation to systematically target transgender people after losing the fight over marriage equality. It has been made a political and ideological issue, she said, emphasizing that the evidence base is strong for the safety and efficacy of these treatments, while also noting that, as with all areas of medicine, research should continue to evolve.Related: U.S. Senate parliamentarian blocks GOPs plan to ban gender-affirming care under MedicaidDuring the workshop, Dr. Michael Laidlaw, a California endocrinologist who has testified repeatedly in favor of banning gender-affirming care, declared during his presentation that he has been a longtime member of the Endocrine Society but disagrees with its position on gender-affirming health care. Levine, who did not watch the presentation, responded to reports of it. He said that hes been with the Endocrine Society for many years, and on those 400 other issues, he thinks they get it right, but on this issue, they dont, Levine said. It doesnt make any sense to say, Oh, I would absolutely take my child to DC Childrens for diabetes, but if I saw the same endocrinologist for gender care, theyre wrong.Conservatives at the FTC workshop repeatedly named Levine, accusing her of pressuring WPATH in 2024 to remove age requirements from its updated standards of care for political reasons. Levine rejected those claims outright. Ive never considered myself political. Ive always been involved with medicine and public health, she told The Advocate. Levine explained that WPATH publicly circulated a draft of its guidelines and solicited feedback, to which her office submitted comments like any other entity. "We gave a comment. Many different organizations put out comments, and we did too, she said.The workshop featured a slate of speakers who have built their public profiles attacking transgender peoples health care, including psychiatrist Miriam Grossman, activist Erin Friday of Genspect, and Jamie Reed, a former gender clinic employee whose widely publicized allegations have been heavily disputed by medical experts.Related: Montana court strikes down ban on gender-affirming care for trans minorsLGBTQ+ advocates were quick to point out that the event appeared designed to amplify discredited narratives rather than to examine evidence. Kellan Baker, executive director of the Institute for Health Research and Policy at Whitman-Walker, said the FTC had grossly violated its mandate by hosting what he described as a political rally dressed up as a government agency.This is the marshaling of pseudoscience and disinformation to advance a political agenda, Baker told The Advocate. It does not actually feature the voices of transgender young people, their families, or the health care providers who care for them.Baker noted that regret among people who receive gender-affirming care is exceptionally low, hovering around 1 to 3 percent, citing published research showing that most young people continue care and experience improvements in mental health. Yet we see a tiny group of detransitioners going from congressional hearings to FTC events to other anti-trans venues, funded to push these narratives, he said.Baker said he and other health policy experts, medical professionals, and trans advocates are organizing a counter-programming event on Thursday intended to correct the record. Unlike the FTCs workshop, he said, Thursdays forum will feature the voices of medical experts, parents, and transgender young people themselves, the people whose lives are actually affected by these policies.Even as anti-trans narratives echoed in Washington, new research continued to undercut the claims presented at the FTC event. In Utah, Republican lawmakers who banned gender-affirming care for minors in 2023 demanded evidence that such treatment benefits trans youth. That evidence has now arrived, and lawmakers are ignoring it.As The Advocate reported in May, a sweeping, 1,000-page report commissioned by the Utah legislature and released in May found that gender-affirming care significantly improves mental health outcomes for trans youth, including reduced rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Conducted by the University of Utahs Drug Regimen Review Center, the report concluded that the scientific evidence supporting gender-affirming hormone therapy far exceeds the level required for FDA approval of other pediatric treatments.Related: Utah Republicans ignore study supporting gender-affirming care for trans youth. It's research they demandedResearchers found that regret was virtually nonexistent among trans youth who received care, directly contradicting the anecdotes spotlighted by anti-trans activists at the FTC workshop.Levine called the Utah findings incredibly important, telling The Advocate: This report confirms what major medical organizations and providers have known for decades: that gender-affirming care is safe, effective, and medically necessary for many youth. It demolishes the misinformation that continues to be pushed in events like this FTC workshop. The science is there. The question is whether politicians will accept it.The Trump administrations approach to gender-affirming care is starkly illustrated on federal websites. Following a court order requiring restoration of HHS informational pages about transgender health, the departments Office of Population Affairs now hosts a page that carries a blunt disclaimer from the administration.Per a court order, HHS is required to restore this document Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate, and disconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female, the disclaimer reads. The Trump Administration rejects gender ideology and condemns the harms it causes to children, by promoting their chemical and surgical mutilation, and to women, by depriving them of their dignity, safety, well-being, and opportunities. This page does not reflect biological reality and therefore the Administration and this Department rejects it.Related: Iowa bans Medicaid from covering gender-affirming care for adultsYet the same HHS document, in its substantive content, continues to explain that gender-affirming care is a supportive form of healthcare and that research demonstrates such care improves the mental health and overall well-being of gender diverse children and adolescents. The page outlines evidence that gender-affirming interventions, including social transition, puberty blockers, and hormone therapy, are associated with lower rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide among transgender youth, and emphasizes the critical role of family and community support.The science still supports gender-affirming care, American Academy of Pediatrics president Dr. Susan Kressly said in a statement after the Skrmetti decision. Children will still need it.As LGBTQ+ advocates brace for further policy assaults, Levine said she remains extremely realistic about how challenging the present is but insisted the movement would endure. We have to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off, she said. And continue the work.The FTC did not respond to a request for comment from The Advocate.