How Harvard Teed Up the False Claim That the 'Vast Majority of Minors Getting Gender-Affirming Surgeries Are Cis Kids'

An opaquely written Harvard study and linked press release prompted false reporting that gynecomastia surgeries for boys are vastly more common than gender-affirming surgeries for trans kids.

This erroneous headline appeared in the LGBTQ news site Them on June 28.

Readers of the LGBTQ media outlet Them could be excused for harboring the false belief that out of all surgeries that affirm the gender of minors in the U.S., the vast majority are gynecomastia operations on cisgender (non-transgender) boys to remove breast growth. (The idea is that by surgically removing a physical characteristic that makes boys appear more feminine, the operation affirms their male identity.) A Them article published June 28 falsely claims that for minors, gender-affirming surgeries among these cis boys dwarf such operations among transgender people under age 18.

The reporter from Them apparently followed the combined lead of an opaquely written research letter and a misleading and opaquely written associated press release.

In its headline, the press release, issued by Harvard’s public health school, proclaims, “Gender-affirming surgeries rarely performed on transgender youth”—an almost certainly …