Texas A&M issued 127 doses of transgender hormones to students last year through its health services center, according to a new report.
Documents obtained through an open records request and statements from a Texas A&M spokesperson revealed the university had been facilitating the usage of such hormones for years, the Texas Scorecard reported on Wednesday.
Kelly Brown, a spokesperson for the university, said 44 students paid for 129 appointments to receive “gender-affirming care treatment” in 2023, which was an increase from the 33 patients and 103 appointments logged in 2022, 22 students with 48 appointments in 2021, 25 students and 40 appointments in 2020, and 15 students with 56 appointments in 2019. Transgender hormones are often given weekly or biweekly, according to Boston University.
Brown insisted that students, not the university, paid for the appointments. She also said the university does not perform sex alteration surgeries:
“University Health Services treats adults requesting such therapy. Treatment plans are collaboratively developed between the patient and their healthcare provider. No gender-affirming surgeries are performed at [University Health Services]. In fact, UHS does not perform any surgeries that require general anesthesia.
“They perform minor surgeries within the scope of primary care such as skin biopsies for suspicious lesions, incision and drainage of abscesses, and ingrown toenail removals. Services at UHS include primary care, mental health, specialty care, physical therapy, preventive medicine, and a nurse triage clinic.”
The Texas Scorecard report also detailed instances of transgender activism at the university. Matt Hoffman, Texas A&M’s assistant dean of the school of nursing at the university’s Round Rock campus, for instance, provided transgender hormones through his practice in Bryan, Texas, from 2019 to 2023. He conducted a presentation in 2021 at Texas A&M University Libraries titled “The 87th Texas Legislative Session and its Impact on Healthcare for Transgender Residents.”
Texas A&M health services also previously hosted an intern seminar that discussed transgenderism.
“We will explore current events and their implications for the trans community on and off campus,” a description on the university website reads. “We will consider details associated with [the] transition process (e.g., hormone therapy, legal name change, preferred gender pronouns) and our role in connecting students to resources.”
The seminar had four elements: “Explore intern’s understanding and experience of working with trans [clients],” “Discuss cases that involve gender identity and differential diagnoses,” “Unique ways to explore gender identity with client,” and “Implications of sexuality.”
Rep. Brian Harrison (R–Midlothian) said he wants to ensure the university was not using tax dollars to pay for transgender hormone usage.
“It would be outrageous for any public university to use state resources of any kind to pay for sex change therapies,” he told Texas Scorecard. “I authored the ‘Pay For Your Own Sex Change Act’ last session because no Texan should be forced to pay for their neighbor’s sex change. It’s indefensible House leadership killed it. If you want a sex change, pay for it with your own damn money. I’m already demanding answers from A&M about their undergraduate minor in LGBTQ studies, and I’ll look into this as well.”
In defense of transgender hormone usage, Carrie Davis of the LGBTQ advocacy group The Trevor Project and Dr. Mitchell Prinstein, chief science officer of the American Psychological Association, argued against limits being placed on the administration of transgender hormones.
“The bottom line is that any effort to restrict access to gender-affirming care is dangerous legislative overreach that could lead to negative mental health outcomes and increased suicide risk for transgender young people,” they wrote in an opinion piece for The Oklahoman.
