No Misconduct at Transgender Center, Review Finds

The obviously bogus allegations by former clinic worker Jamie Reed did not result in any finding of misconduct at the Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

by Evan Urquhart

According to an internal investigation by Washington University, the Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital followed appropriate standards of care, and allegations to the contrary by former clinic worker Jamie Reed were not substantiated. The results of the investigation were released Friday, according to stories in the Missouri Independent and other mainstream news. The total lack of substance to allegations concerning a clinic serving trans youth in St. Louis, Missouri will come as no suprise to anyone who’s been following our coverage, but the damage to the health and safety of trans people in Missouri has been done.

screenshot from the Missouri Independent

The damage done by those who credulously believed and repeated the smears on the Transgender Center is hard to understate. The allegations came at a time when families in Missouri had been fighting hard to protect access to gender-affirming care for children who needed it, against a hostile legislature who were mulling a total ban. The false picture painted by Reed’s allegations of a clinic that pushed medical treatments on parents created a climate where not only is a ban for the evidence-based treatment making its way through the legislature, but Attorney General Andrew Bailey is attempting to misuse his powers in order impose a de-facto ban on gender-affirming care for all residents, including adults. The AG’s unilaterally imposed regulations include catch-22s whereby a trans person suffering from depression or anxiety (two common symptoms of gender dysphoria) would be unable to access treatment until it resolves.

Among the outlets who credulously repeated Reed’s claims are NPR and New York Magazine. The inability of mainstream reporters to contextualize the flimsy, unsubstantiated allegations exposed the lack of deep knowledge of transgender medical care, and the damage their confusion and lack of professionalism could cause. Despite mountains of evidence supporting the conclusion that gender-affirming care is necessary and lifesaving, that it has been used sparingly and with tremendous restraint, and that an astonishingly low number of patients express regret, reporters seem unwilling or unable to contextualize right wing attacks.