Republican members of the Tennessee House of Representatives issued a letter to Vanderbilt University Medical Center on Wednesday asking VUMC's Board of Directors to "take immediate action by halting all permanent gender transitioning surgeries being performed on minor children."
The letter follows allegations in a Tweet thread by Daily Wire political commentator and activist Matt Walsh that the Nashville hospital is operating a "child castration business."
Walsh's posts created a firestorm of Republican outrage in Middle Tennessee and across the national conservative media landscape, and resulted in Gov. Bill Lee calling for an investigation into the Pediatric Transgender Clinic at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
"While those 18 years and older are recognized as legal adults and free to make decisions in their best interests, it is an egregious error of judgment that an institution as highly respected as Vanderbilt would condone (and promote) harmful and irreversible procedures for minor children in the name of profit," the letter reads in part, calling the clinic's practices "nothing less than abuse."
The House Republicans are asking for a response from VUMC within 10 days.
"We have been and will continue to be committed to providing family-centered care to all adolescents in compliance with state law and in line with professional practice standards and guidance established by medical specialty societies," VUMC said in a statement last week.
Tuesday evening, House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) made an unannounced appearance at a Franklin hotel where he took part in a panel discussion at the America First Policy Institute's America First Agenda Town Hall Tour. At the event, he addressed the ongoing controversy around transgender health care at Vanderbilt.
AFPI is a self-described "non-profit, non-partisan research institute" that "exists to advance policies that put the American people first" with their listed guided principles including "liberty, free enterprise, national greatness, American military superiority, foreign-policy engagement in the American interest and the primacy of American workers, families and communities in all we do."
While AFPI describes itself as "non-partisan," the group's ranks include GOP stalwarts like former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and former Trump aides Kellyanne Conway and Larry Kudlow.
"I think what you'll see [is] us come back in January and prohibit it from even happening in their state under reassignment surgeries for any minor - parental consent or anything, just wipe it off," Sexton told the crowd of around 40 people on Tuesday. "... you also have hormone blockers or puberty blockers going on - I think you'll see us ban those as well."
Sexton also spoke on the General Assembly's plan to take on insurance companies and make changes in regards to TennCare.
"So what you'll see [is] us come back next year and ... really say that these things are elective - if you want to pay cash, that's what you want to do, so be it, but we're not going to have this when a female is diagnosed with breast cancer, and they'll pay for the mastectomy, but they won't pay for the reconstruction, but they're going to pay for reassignment surgeries?," Sexton said. "There's something that's wrong in the insurance world, and they're too scared to do it themselves, so we'll do it for them."
Sexton added that the legislature will also explicitly prohibit TennCare from paying for reassignment surgeries for minors. TennCare does not cover gender-affirming surgeries for minors, according to spokesperson Amy Lawrence. Hormone blockers are covered if deemed "medically necessary." Additionally, TennCare does cover reconstructive breast surgery as a result of a mastectomy, Lawrence said.
Tennessee Republicans Can Stop the Insanity
The woke takeover of universities is advancing with the tacit approval of Republicans in a deeply red state.
Big money maker."
The words of a Vanderbilt University Medical Center doctor in regards to the transgender surgeries the hospital performs on minors were shocking in their honesty. The only thing more horrifying than child mutilation in service to ideology is child mutilation in service to mammon. Hearing it admitted from the podium in a public lecture only made it worse. Forget making prostitution legal; the sale of human flesh is more profitable this way.
Matt Walsh's recent report on the pediatric transgender clinic at the medical facilities associated with the prestigious Middle Tennessee school has already made waves in the state and across the country, as it should. Republican Governor Bill Lee has called for an investigation of VUMC, and the state's House Republican Caucus chairman and majority leader have also promised to ban gender-affirming treatment for minors. But the Tennessee General Assembly won't be back in session until January, more than three months from now. In the meantime, some have already wondered if a condemnation of gender-affirming treatment for minors would be tacit approval of gender-approving treatment for adults. At any rate, it's hard not to wonder if, like so many other scandals, this will blow over before the root of the problem is addressed.
Vanderbilt is not Tennessee's only problem school. As one of the more liberal institutions in the state, in part thanks to its proximity to Nashville, it has always been at odds with broader Tennessee's conservative tendencies. But out in the east, on the public dollar, similar tensions are brewing.
The University of Tennessee has several campuses across the state. While perhaps less prestigious than Vanderbilt, to a native Tennessean it is often the top choice of college, in part due to the appeal of its legendary football program and the license to trash talk Alabama and Florida. In the laundry list of radicalized universities, it is not near the top. Schools in a Southern, deeply red state just don't spring to mind when we envision diversity, equity, and inclusion boards. But, like so many other institutions, UT has become a breeding ground for activism in recent years, and perhaps more fervently so because of its location.
Shortly after the death of George Floyd in 2020, UT required every school and administrative unit to produce its own "Diversity Action Plan." The effect of these plans, reported by journalist John Sailer, was overhauled curricula across the university-not just once, but periodically, to reflect adherence to changing mores. The Haslam School of Business, named for the former Republican governor, promised to reassess its curriculum for "issues related to social justice, equity, and the elimination of bias." The college of education, health, and human sciences required at least 75 percent of its instructors to revise their syllabi annually to "reflect increased self-knowledge" of these progressive issues. The school of social work introduced a new minor, Social Justice, and promised to adopt critical race theory as a framework.
Unlike Vanderbilt, however, the University of Tennessee is not presided over by the creator of the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board at the University of Chicago's school of public policy. UT's president is a man named Randy Boyd, a native of Knoxville and an alumnus of the school he now directs. A professed conservative, Boyd ran in the Republican primary for governor of Tennessee in 2018. He was endorsed by the former governor, Bill Haslam, and countless party members, and-though he ultimately took second place to Lee-was regarded as the establishment protege.
The university is going leftward under Boyd's leadership, and perhaps it is only for lack of attention. Still, last October had to have raised some eyebrows. After fundraising for a state senator who had proposed a ban on gay marriage, Boyd, it seemed, could not take the heat. Boyd pulled his support for the candidate, apologized, and (since that is never enough) committed the state's university to the cause to cover his own backside. Boyd vowed UT would raise its "campus pride index" score and promised to advocate for LGBTQ-friendly policies on the legislative level.
Boyd also stood by silently as the university hurriedly rescinded admission to a varsity cheer captain within days after a video surfaced of her using a racial slur in high school, several years prior.
"The university takes seriously our commitment to fostering a Volunteer community that values equity, inclusion, and that promotes respect for all people," the official account tweeted after the incident.
Harpeth Hall Adopts Gender Philosophy
Traditionally all-girls private school responds to calls from students for clarity around gender diversity
Harpeth Hall officially adopted a gender philosophy on Friday, seven weeks after initially releasing, then retracting, a very similar statement amid backlash from donors and parents.
The philosophy responds to students who have come out as nonbinary or trans at the traditionally all-girls private school. Students called on the school to clarify its stance toward students who do not identify as female. The statement seeks to affirm the Harpeth Hall's role as an all-girls educational institution and its mission to foster a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment.
After the statement's initial release in August, petitions both in support of and critical of the school garnered more than a thousand signatures each. One open letter to the school from parents, donors and alums called for the resignation of the board and administrators.
BANQUET KEYNOTE: Hans von Spakovsky - Heritage Foundation - The Threats We Face to Preserving the Republic.
Other speakers include: Billie Cash, Billie Cash Ministries - HOPE!; Jason Frost - Founder, Wired Human, Childhood Is Not For Sale; Lacy Tolar - Rescue 1 Global (Human Trafficking), Prevent, Rescue, Restore; Dakota Wood - Heritage Foundation - A Foreign Policy Befitting a Superpower?; Jane Robbins, attorney - Understanding the Transgender Madness: What's Happening to Our Children, and Why; Scott Hord - Operation Saving Lives, Saving the Lives of Babies and Mothers; Daniel Schmidt, University of Chicago student - Time to Fight Anti-White Racism on Campus; Frances Arthur - Student Eagle Leader, Student Eagles Continue to Soar; Jaime Christley, Family Research Council, Development Associate - This Eagle Soared to New Heights; Joanne Bregman - attorney, Bobbie's Lobbying Partner - Legal and Illegal Immigration: What the General Assembly Did and Didn't Do and School Librarians: Educators or Activists?; Mark Morgan, a Visiting Fellow with the Heritage Foundation and the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) - The Disaster at our Border; Jenifer Barron Yates, Life Choices - After Roe - The Blessing of the Complete Pregnancy Center.
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