Leaked discussions reveal uncertainty about transgender care

FEW AREASWPATHWPATHWPATHWPATH WPATH of medicine arouse as strong emotions in America as transgender care. The publication this week of hundreds of posts from an internal messaging forum will add fuel to this fire. The files show members of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (), an interdisciplinary professional and educational association devoted to the field, discussing how to treat patients.The non-profit group that published the files, Environmental Progress, which pushes strong views on more than just the environment, claims that the documents reveal “widespread medical malpractice on children and vulnerable adults”. That claim is questionable. But ’s standards of care have been cited by other medical organisations, particularly in America. ’s president, Marci Bowers, said in response that “is and has always been a science- and evidence-based organisation.” Yet the discussions show that the provision of so-called gender-affirming care is riddled with far more doubt than ’s message that such treatments are “not considered experimental”.