Does a video authentically show American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Chase Strangio arguing that 2-year-olds should receive gender-affirming medical interventions? No, that's not true: A video on social media misrepresents what he said about gender-affirming care, which is typically about juveniles and involves decisions made by doctors and families. His statement on CNN was specific to adolescents -- not toddlers. The ACLU supports access to necessary medical care for youth, but treatments for toddlers are not part of standard medical practices or what the ACLU advocates for.
The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here) on X on December 3, 2024, with the on-screen title "U.S. SUPREME COURT TO HEAR CASE CHALLENGING TENNESSEE BAN ON TRANS YOUTH HEALTH CARE." The post's caption said:
ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio: 2-year-olds know they're trans, so let them sterilize & castrate themselves
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Fri Dec 6 16:50:38 2024 UTC)
Strangio did not say children should receive gender-affirming medical or surgical interventions when they are 2. Rather, he stated that children, some of whom have maintained their gender identity from the age of 2, should receive gender-affirming medical or surgical interventions.
The post didn't provide any proof to support its assertion that Strangio thinks 2-year-olds should receive gender-affirming medical care. In the 42-second video clip, he says:
[What] I would say is nobody has to provide this medication to adolescents. These are not doctors being forced to provide this medication. These are doctors who are wanting to treat their patients in the best way that they know how, based on the best available evidence to us.
And these are young people who may have known since they were 2 years old exactly who they are, who suffered for six, seven years before they had any relief. And what's happening here, it's not the kids who are consenting to this treatment, it's the parents who are consenting to the treatment.
As a parent, I would say when our children are suffering, we are suffering. And these are parents who love their children, who are listening to the advice of their doctors, of the mainstream medical community, and doing what's right for their kids and the state of Tennessee has displaced their judgment.
The full seven-minute interview (archived here) with Strangio aired on CNN on December 3, 2024.
During the video clip, Strangio is referring to juveniles -- not toddlers -- and their medical care when he says, "[What] I would say is nobody has to provide this medication to adolescents."
Later, he discusses the time between when a child may first understand their identity and when they reach adolescence, typically between 10 and 19, according to the World Health Organization (archived here). When he mentions 2-year-olds, he says, "These are young people who may have known since they were 2 years old exactly who they are, who suffered for six, seven years before they had any relief."
ACLU
A Google search (archived here) of the ACLU website shows nothing about supporting gender-affirming care for toddlers. However, it does mention youth (archived here), which the United Nations defines as people between 15 and 24. The ACLU website (archived here) says:
Medical experts agree: Gender-affirming care is medically necessary care that can be life-saving for transgender youth. Medical decisions belong to trans youth, their parents, and their doctors.
Read more
Other Lead Stories fact checks of claims concerning transgender people and issues are here.
