In September, The Dallas Express reported on local parent activists that had begun to call for investigations into Dallas Children’s Medical Center’s GENder Education and Care Interdisciplinary Support (GENECIS) program.
The GENECIS program provided “gender-affirming care,” including transgender hormone usage, to prepubescent children. The activists wanting an investigation into the program alleged that procedures provided by the program amounted to child abuse due to the alleged use of transgender hormone usage on children as young as ten years old.
Dallas Children’s has previously stated that their program provided vital help for young people with gender dysphoria.
Last week Dallas Children’s Medical announced that they would disband the GENECIS program. All references to the GENECIS program have now been removed from the children’s hospital website, signaling a victory for Save Texas Kids (STK), a local group of activists that have been trying to draw attention to the program, and others who align with the organization’s beliefs.
The children’s hospital and UT Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center released a joint statement saying they will “offer a more private, insulated experience for [GENECIS] patients and their families.” Adding that any new patients will be seen in “appropriate specialty departments” and offered mental health and counseling services but will not be initiated on hormone or puberty suppression therapy.”
The GENECIS program was founded in 2012 and was the first “clinic” in the Southwest for children with gender dysphoria. According to Dallas Children’s Medical, the program provided a full range of “evidence-based, comprehensive care to support children’s physical, mental, and behavioral health needs.”
STK disputes the assertion that the GENECIS program is evidence-based and offered statistics showing just the opposite – that such “gender-affirming care” is harmful to children and increases the rate of suicide.
According to Ricardo Martinez, CEO of Equality Texas, the first of its kind program made life easier for LGBTQ+ youth in the area.
Martinez said in a statement that “Accessing healthcare can be a courageous act for many LGBTQ+ people because of how difficult it is to find providers who are knowledgeable about our needs and the poor treatment we have experienced by insurers and/or providers in the past.”
Previously, Dallas Children’s Medical Center told The Dallas Express in an email interview that “with a suicide attempt rate of up to 41% for children and adolescents with gender dysphoria, there is a need for comprehensive care for these youth.”
Earlier this year, there were unsuccessful attempts by the Texas State Legislator to pass two separate bills (SB 1646 and SB 1311) that would criminalize this “gender-affirming care” and label medical procedures like the ones provided by GENECIS as child abuse.
During the April arguments in the Senate State Affairs committee, several organizations defended this “gender-affirming care” for youth, including the Texas Medical Association and the Texas Pediatric Society. They opposed the bills and called for lawmakers to reject their passage.
In a written statement, Austin pediatrician Marjan Linnell, MD, also told the committee that “gender-affirming care is part of the comprehensive, primary care provided to patients” and is an “effective evidence-based treatment for a vulnerable group of children.”
Further, Linnell added that data shows “puberty suppression leads to improved mental health and decreased suicidal thoughts for transgender youth.”
Save Texas Kids (STK) is one of the organizations that has protested the GENECIS program and disputes this data. STK describes itself as “a group of concerned parents focused on protecting vulnerable children.” Its members have been gathering to protest GENECIS in front of Dallas Children’s Medical board members for several weeks.
According to STK, “GENECIS is a part of the Dallas Children’s organization and is taking part in what is potentially child medical abuse through their application of chemical castration and hormone replacements.”
No one can fully understand “the psychological toll [of these procedures] as studies show children are routinely left more confused and despondent than when they started.” STK told the Dallas Express in September.
On October 27th, STK protestors gathered in front of Tolleson Wealth Management. Protestors were holding signs saying, “Children are being chemically castrated.” The protest was aimed at a director at Tolleson Wealth and Dallas Children’s board member, Dottie Reeder.
Luke Gervais attended the protest and called himself a proud father and stated his dedication to being a great father to his daughter is what brought him to attend. He said, “there’s a reason why you have laws to wait for things until you’re 18. For kid’s safety, there is a need for growth and mental maturity and physical maturity before making a life-long changing decision.”
Other protesters gathered at Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International to protest its CEO, Robbie Briggs’, involvement as a board director of Dallas Children’s. A protester held a sign that read, “Dallas Children’s Board Member Robbie Briggs Castrates Kids!”
STK explained their decision to gather in front of board members’ places of business. They wrote in an email interview that board members “may not have the power to disband GENECIS, but they can definitely influence the policies and procedures that govern it.”
Also adding that “the board members are ultimately the ones with the power to make a change, not the employees of GENECIS.”
Following the announcement that the program was dissolved, STK released a statement stating that “thanks to Save Texas Kids volunteers, the abusive GENECIS facility has been disbanded. Hundreds of kids will be able to stay kids and grow out of their gender dysphoria and enjoy the bodies God has given them instead of suffering the harm of these abusive and crippling procedures.”
However, they acknowledged their fight was still not over. “While Save Texas Kids celebrates this announcement, we fear that some of these procedures will continue covertly. Thus, we are demanding UTSW and Children’s Medical hold to their commitment of not prescribing any form of hormone therapy for minors… and refrain from referring children to other facilities that could perform such procedures.”
The Dallas Express reached out to Dallas Children’s Medical Center and Board member Robbie Briggs for additional comments, but they did not respond.