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Thursday, March 28, 2024
Opinions generic
Opinions generic

Dr. Joseph Ladapo, in his role as the Florida’s Surgeon General, has recently led the publication of new Florida Department of Health guidance recommending that medical professionals in the state deny proper healthcare to transgender and gender-diverse children and adolescents. These recommendations directly contradict, and fail to cite, the thoroughly researched and referenced consensus standards of care for transgender and gender-nonconforming children and adolescents by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the Endocrine Society, and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. In their place, the recommendations put forth by Dr. Ladapo cherry-pick evidence from portions of individual studies that align with the political ideology of the executive branch of the Florida government.

Dr. Ladapo is using the appearance of expertise granted by his position as a Professor in the UF College of Medicine to encourage the harmful denial of healthcare that meets accepted and vetted standards by the AAP and other leading US medical organizations for transgender and gender-diverse children and adolescents. While experts in roles such as Surgeon General must often lead policy development outside of their medical specialty (Dr. Ladapo was trained in internal medicine), it is their role and responsibility to obtain and communicate a broad and in-depth understanding of relevant scientific and clinical data, and to develop and support policy based on the best available information. Instead, Dr. Ladapo has chosen to ignore the understanding of the relevant professionals in pursuit of political ends. While concerning in its own right, this poor scholarship is particularly problematic because it is being used to justify taking away the rights of transgender and gender-diverse children and adolescents to proper health care.

The LGBTQIA+ students, faculty, post-doctoral fellows, and staff at UF and the LGBTQIA+ children and adolescents in their families deserve state policies that respect their rights to healthcare. It is incumbent on us to speak up when academic authority is misused to facilitate state sponsored harm to children and adolescents by attacking their rights (and those of their parents) to healthcare. We, the undersigned faculty, post-doctoral fellows, students, and staff of the University of Florida, call on the UF President, UF Provost, UF Faculty Senate, and the Dean of the UF College of Medicine to publicly support the use of accepted best practices from the leading US medical organizations to guide Florida Department of Health policy for the healthcare of transgender and gender-nonconforming adolescents.

This statement was written by the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access Committee. Six hundred members of the UF community signed it.

Ethan White, Bette Loiselle, Mark Hostetler, Vanessa Hull, Daniel Deep, Lameace Hussain, Maria Vilchez, Emily Khazan, Christina Romagosa, Martin Main, Breann Garbas, Jamie Garner, Alison Morton, Timothy Murtha, Lauren Berkow, Catherine Striley,, Jordan Ramos, Terasa Younker, Edward Camp, Charles R. Volkert II, Shannon Cutler, Paul Roberts, Jaclyn Kropp, Bethany McClellon, Janie Berger, Samantha Smith, Stephanie Bohlman, Nancy A. Moores, Marc Frank, Venetia Briggs-Gonzalez, Jason A. Smith, Hannah Vander Zanden, Erica Goss, Mathews Paret, Jeffrey B Jones, Jamin Bergeron, John K. Schueller, L.W. Timmer, Susan M. Thor, Ludmila Barbosa De Faria, Susan Badylak, Marian Linda M Perry, Alexandra Fireman, Arie Havelaar, Cody Miner, Ruth Steiner, Jose Eduardo P. Santos, Elizabeth 'Betty' Staugler, Tyler Bowling, Raelene Crandall, Shelley Jones, William Hammond, Jennison Kipp, Carolina Baruzzi, Katie Basinger-Ellis, Diana Hagan, Scott Cinel, Margaret Simon, Marielle de Moraes Berto, Caitlin J. Campbell, Hamutahl Cohen, Lisa Chong, Debbie Butler, Howard Beck, Michael Andreu, Andrea Bohn, Rachael Vinyard, Sara Murphy, Amit Levy, José Miguel Ponciano, Natalie Claunch, Stuart McDaniel, Carmen Diana Deere, Sarah Sheppard, Janis Machnik, Kathryn Stofer, Nick Keiser, Diane Craig, Mirriam Christophy, Hugh Smith, Lacey Broxson, Jamie Loizzo, Michael J Sisk, Maxine Hunter, Michelle Metts, Steven Cassidy, Jamila Roth, Michael Loizzo, Gabrielle Love, Ryan Champiny, Mathew Leibold, Emily Taylor, Lauren Schmidt, Nicole Duffy, George Aaron Broadwell, Laurel Meke, Laura Tiu, Yaslin Gonzalez, Liza Garcia, Kathryn Feerst, Colleen Gutman, Verity Mathis, David Plotkin, Amy D. Hester, Reem. S. Abu-Rustum, Eleana Manousiouthakis, David Steadman, Matt Benge, Larry M. Page, Annisa Karim, Flora Iff-Noël, Leigh Archer, Kristen Van Gelder, Sergio A. Balaguera-Reina, Rosemary Loria, Jennifer Sykes, John Bromfield, Aralyn Nunez, Jessica King, Lindsay Bloch, Olgert Bardhi, Robert Stokes, Andrew Kratter, Jonathan Ooten, Brianna Benitez, Jillian Rung, Tony Wen, Sam Zlotnik, James Shwayder, Deah Lieurance, Steve Manchester, Brantlee S Richter, Tom Becker, Maureen Novak, David H Evans, Jennifer Jones, Ana Puig, Maria Cortez, Carolyn K. Holland, Michal Kowalewski, Wil Fady, Alex Bijak, Salil Bavdekar, Elizabeth Diehl, Nicholas Dufault, Michael Haller, Nicole Green, Fi Stewart-Taylor, Katia Viana Xaviet, Elijah Drzata, Susan Hegeman, David Leavitt, Wendy-Lin Bartels, Barbara Hyman, Kenneth Kidd, Hayley Henderson, Stephanie Smith, Trent Blare, Phillip E. Wegner, Kristin Beckham, Melissa H. Friedman, Jason Gordy Walker, Zuania Colon-Pineiro, Marsha Bryant, Anna Egeland, Maxine Donnelly, Ken Gioeli, Kasey Pham, Cassidy Klovanish, Bryce Hostetler, Jeanette Andrade, Basil Iannone, Geraldine Klarenberg, Robert Buschbacher, Robert Wagman, Olesya Malakhova, William H. Kern, Ryan Clark, Eben Alguire, Paloma Carton de Grammont, Brandon Bourassa, Robin Sarabia, Dominique Zaragoza, Kathryn E. Hitchcock, Devon Mims, Victoria Pagán, Jennifer Green, Margaret Galvan, Daniel Johnson, Michael J. Sisk, Noah Baron, Natalie Goodman, Andrew Gitto, Lisa Anthony, Terry Harpold, Cristovão Nwachukwu, Laura Kleckner, Amie L Hoefnagel, Laura S., Jodi Schorb, Kiran Motaparthi, Maria C. Vallejo, Noah Mullens, Addie Walker, Morgan Ernest, Kate Davis, Yvonne Medina, Patricia Missall, Ashby Strauch, Ute Albrecht, Kendal Broad, Tina O'Shea, Monique Scoggin, Mary Christie, Joshua Konkol, Karen A. Bjorndal, Vladimir Vincek, Nicolette Drescher, Stephanie Bogart, David C. Blackburn, Alexandra De Leo, Tyler Klatt, Maria Ripol, Peter Collings, Terri Mellich, Deborah Hilbert, Mary Anthony, Xyloh Lee, Camila Zalazar, David C. Diehl, Stephen Mulkey, Jesse Jones, Denis Valle, Natercia Valle, Barrett Uhler, Tara Tobin Cataldo, Anamaria Yeung, Malay Ghosh, Shirley Baker., Kassandra Coulsey, Allison Campbell , George Burgess, Jonathan Hernandez, Sara Gonzalez, Cecile Robertson, Lisa McElwee-White, Julia Graber, Dana Wood, Sarah McConnell, Roberto L. Abreu, Geoffrey Dahl, Lisa S. Scott, Ronald Castellano, Valeria Kleiman, Shireen Madani Sims, Greg Webster, Gail E Fanucci, Karen A. Kainer, Richard A Yost, Jesse Dallery, Nicole Horenstein, Michael Durham, Matt Hitchings, Hani Doss, Barry Setlow, James Shepperd, Shannon Noble, Andrew Specht, William O Dawson, Carlos de la Torre, Carmi Thompson, Katherine Blackburn, Amy Kendig, Cecile Robertson, Lisa Krimsky, Jen Marvin, Nico Cellinese, Kestrel Ward, Martina Sumner, James W. Harper, Bob Kolb, Valkyrie Aldrnari, Margarita Vargas-Betancourt, Valrie Minson, Karina Kolb, Kristen Grace, Salam Omar Salman, Niamh Condon, Nicole Caldwell, Jessica Mrozinske Baker, Jose Irazuzta, Jay L. Schauben, Caryn Plummer, Peggy Lowenstein, Amy McCoy, Ken Sassaman, David Kaplan, Allison B. Ventura, John Krigbaum, Jaime A. Wilson, Annette M. Isenhour, Valerie DeLeon, Hattie Mallot, Kate A. Ratliff, Susan D. deFrance, Héctor E. Pérez, Hannah Norton, Karen Schlatter, Anna Galloway, Mitchell Galloway, Mark Brenner, Zachary Randall, Arnoldo Valle-Levinson, Lindsey Telg, Vincent Lecours, Andreas Keil, Justin Mason, Tatiana Aragon, Nipa Shah, Alexandra Mannix, Carolyn Hanson, Tabitha Petri, Julien Habif, Madeline Fuchs, Michelle Danyluk, Catalin Voiniciuc, Parisa Rashidi, Todd Palmer, Morgan Byron, Emily Jackson, Michelle Nolan, Paul Ortiz, Megan Butala, Jeannette Mejia, Susan Gillespie, Glenn Galloway, Janice Dees, Julio A. Martin, Vincent Encomio, Alix Johnson, Cherie Stabler, Daniela Chiriboga Salazar, Catherine Tucker, Robin M. Wright, Stephen Perz, Chris Busey, Christian Wanamaker, Elizabeth Washington, Courtney Quirie, Chang-Yu Wu, Alyson Adams, Carmen Martinez Novo, Tina Gurucharri, Joan Flocks, William A. Wallace, Terrence Commons, Benjamin K. Johnson, Maria Coady, Alex Sheremet, Ryan Need, Krista Smith, Autumn McClellan, Wolfgang Sigmund, Thomas Ruppert, Emilio M. Bruna, Amy E. S. Stone, Jessica Kramer, TehQuin Forbes, Joy Rodgers, Wendy Mandese, Jacob Scott, Julie Abrams-Bernier, Christine Kelly-Begazo, Maureen White, Rahi Patel, Xiomy Hernandez, Easton Brundage, Stephanie M Miller, Eoin Cranwell, Angela Bacsik, Amy Vittor, Melissa Hyde, Daniel Savin, Carmen Zachry, Murielle Lemaire, Laura Happe, Lynne Clark, Mang Tia, Felicia Brown, Yasmine Hammad, Cynthia Hinderscheid, Spencer Perron, Joseph N. Wilson, Jordan Bourne, Terence Ryan, Steven A. Brandt, Carmen Jones, Shawn Weatherford, Eliana Kampf, Kayla Lurvey, Hayley Gustin, Sarah Braceras, Katherine Zarrol, Jacob Giner, Raymond Mailhot, Sophia Lara, Anita Mendiola, Amber Emanuel, Grenville Barnes, Steve A. Johnson, Vincent Cassidy, Emma Angeletti, Anthony T. Maurelli, Ageliki Elefteriadou, Kearstin Massa, Sandra Winter, Michael W. Binford, Tish Adams-Waters, Emma Ramseyer, Wendy R. Williams, Richard Burt, Jessica Ulloa, Nadia Mourad, Jade Boyd, Steve Kirn, Jeffrey D. Needell, Christine Voigt, Adrian Roitberg, Mark Reid, Cecilia E. Suarez, Laura Spears, Madeline McCoy, Po Echeguren, Asha Clarke, Aysegul Gunduz, Emma Hanley, Sevan Terzian, Theresa A. Antes, Nicholas Orlando, Jeffrey Goldhagen, Haney Liu, Robert Fletcher, Alyssa Zucker, Jonathan Dain, Patricia Missall, Michelle Hoefnagel, Victoria Array, Jim Wellehan, Judah Cordovan, Connie J Mulligan, Juan M Gonzalez, Katherine Todd-Brown, Jana Barnash, Glenn D Israel, Philipp Aldana, Jessi Dwyer, Breanna Howell, Kathleen Colverson, Alexandra Revynthi, Emily S Wolf, Cooper Rapp, Alexandrea Glenn, Michelle Martin de Bustamante, Sofi-Nicole Barreiro, Griffin Sheehy, Rebecca Barocco, Hance Ellington, Heather Steingraber, Sean Trainor, Bryn Taylor, Kelly Ager, Steven Harris, Christina Palles, Nicholas Joyner, Kristin Dayton, Courtney Kolar, Ashley McDonald, James Gillooly, Leslie Holland, Rebecca Hanson, Roger Kjelgren, Stacey Ewing, Ellen Humbel, Jay Khadpe, Lisa Farina, Carl Van Ness, Orit Shechtman, Adrienne Strong, Tarek Saab, Daniel A. Reboussin, Laura Blecha, Steve Thebaut, Alex Springer, Sophia Schmidt, Jessica Kraft, Taylor Sweet, Mitchell Gulkis, Claire O’Neil, Morgan Reeves, Alyssa Bulatek, Hannah Brown, Ethan Benevides, Jean Paul Pompeo, Rachel Leder, Kirsten Klein, Ashley Krause, Cheshire Hardcastle, J Tyler Smith, Morgan Woods, Melissa FentonHeather Blackwell, Emma Mulry, Alec Esper, Saddie Vela, Rachel Hartnett, Kaili Gregory, Shea Husband, Kimberly Williams, Ed Haning, Collin Douglas, Laura Falceto, America El Sheikh, Jackelyn Avila, Nicholas Kroeger, Larsen McBride, Quincy Faber, Jade Sierra, Melody Bloch, Liam Kehoe, Damea Pham, Aantaki Raisa, Cole Perkins, Makennah Bristow, Satbyeol Shin, Katelyn Flaherty, Hailey Barker, Yvonne Huang, Nader Dagher, Nicole Greco, Victor J. Schneider II, Rachel Gunraj, Pao-Yin Huang, Kenneth Campbell, Timothy C. Gast, James Boothroyd, Joseph Cammarano, Anghelo Gangano, Oren Okhovat, Olivia Paradis, Sorin Jacobs, Hannah Jacobs, Julian Michele, Natalie Colosimo, Jiun-Yao Cheng, Joshua Arroyo, Cristina Gonzalez, Julia Weinstein, Barbara Sanchez, Schuyler Sturm, Corinne Futch, Navid Khalilian, Maura McGraw, Emily Bell, Antonios Kyriazis, Rachel Silva, Taylor Swanson, Domenique Sorresso, Meghan Beatty, Maggie Jones, Rachel Gonzalez-Louis, Erin Alvarez, Zoe Schaefer, LaRaven Temoney, Gage Jeter, Kasima Ali, Tessa Sun, Alicia Papanek, Emory Wellman, Nicole Gravina, Luke Nourie, Benjamin Baiser, Laura Franklin, Lauren Kenney, Oliver Grundmann, Sunni S Lutton, Judith M. Lejeck, Derby Sale, Hope Lerman, Gabriella Dickinson, Elizabeth Nichols, Melissa Meadows, Kristen Stoner, Paul A. Chadik, Adalena Nanni, Tara Wadem, Joel Correia, Nerine Constant, Dellena Bloom, Jules Sostre, Che Williams, Lauren Hintenlang, Trokon Johnson, Sierra Plotner, Emily Plunkett, Zahin Ibnat, Wanda Laughlin, Reetu Grewal, Justina Dacey, Rob de Rooij, Shimei Nelapati, Garrett Ross, Harrison Blount, H. Vrana, Tyler Nesbit, Grace Yates, McKenna Johnson, Caro Willis, Mirela Silva


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