Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s positions on various health issues have raised significant concerns, particularly his stance on transgender minors’ access to gender-affirming healthcare and his questioning of the HIV-AIDS connection. Critics argue that his views should give senators pause before confirming him as Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary.
Kennedy’s skepticism about vaccines has drawn more attention, but his remarks on LGBTQ+ issues have sparked even greater controversy. For instance, during a podcast last year, he suggested that chemicals in drinking water could be influencing children to identify as gay or transgender.
Alex Sheldon, executive director of GLMA, an association for LGBTQ+ healthcare professionals, warned that Kennedy’s rejection of well-established scientific facts, particularly regarding HIV and transgender healthcare, poses a serious threat to public health, especially for the LGBTQ+ community.
LGBTQ+ healthcare organizations warn of public health risks if Kennedy leads HHS
With Kennedy potentially in charge of HHS, a department responsible for shaping healthcare and public health policies, the danger of disinformation becoming more widespread is of grave concern.
Kennedy’s comments about gender-affirming care have evolved over time. Initially, he suggested transgender minors should not be able to access medications like puberty blockers without permission.
By May, however, his stance had become even more conservative. He expressed concerns about puberty blockers, calling them “repurposed castration drugs,” and referred to transition-related surgeries as “mutilation,” advocating for delays in these treatments until adulthood.
Major medical organizations argue that gender-affirming care is not only medically necessary but also life-saving for transgender individuals, particularly for those in adolescence. Puberty blockers and hormone therapies have been shown to reduce suicide rates among transgender youths.
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health emphasizes that gender-affirming surgeries are rarely recommended for minors, and for children before puberty, the focus is on social support, such as helping children express their gender identity through clothing or names.
Kellan Baker, executive director of Whitman-Walker Health, suggests that Kennedy’s views reflect a broader misunderstanding of transgender issues in American society. He notes that many people lack knowledge about what it means to be transgender, as well as the evidence and clinical practices surrounding transgender healthcare.
Kennedy’s disregard for the scientific consensus extends beyond LGBTQ+ health issues. He has been an outspoken critic of vaccines and has recently called for the removal of fluoride from public drinking water, despite its widely acknowledged role in improving public health.
Dr. Meredithe McNamara, a pediatrics professor at Yale School of Medicine, emphasized that a health secretary with strong ideological biases could negatively impact public health. Disinformation, particularly regarding vaccines and gender-affirming care, could cause irreversible harm to children who rely on these essential services.
Kennedy’s claims about HIV and AIDS also raise alarms. In his 2021 book, he suggested that HIV might not be the cause of AIDS, instead pointing to other factors, like party drugs such as poppers. Public health experts, including Sean Cahill of the Fenway Institute, have expressed confusion and concern over Kennedy’s stance, especially since HIV research has been crucial in saving millions of lives.
In addition, Kennedy’s proposal to fire 600 employees at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) would likely hinder progress on crucial medical research, including HIV treatment. If confirmed as HHS secretary, Kennedy would also play a role in overseeing the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program that provides vital HIV prevention and treatment in over 50 countries.
Kennedy’s remarks on transgender youth and HIV draw backlash from health professionals
Beyond Kennedy’s views, public health experts are concerned about the broader healthcare policies under the incoming administration. Trump’s agenda, which advocates for reversing Biden-era policies supporting gender-affirming care for transgender minors, includes threats to withhold federal funding from hospitals that provide such care. This could have a far-reaching impact, potentially disrupting healthcare for everyone, not just transgender people.
McNamara warns that policies targeting gender-affirming care will harm the entire healthcare system. She points out that it is impossible to discriminate against one group without affecting everyone else, and the bans and restrictions that target evidence-based care will have negative consequences over time.
Kennedy, a close ally of Donald Trump, is expected to align with the incoming administration’s healthcare policies. This may mean that regulations expanding access to gender-affirming care and protecting LGBTQ+ individuals from discrimination in healthcare settings could be rolled back.
The process of reversing federal rules is often slow, but healthcare providers and hospitals are likely to take preemptive action in response to the administration’s expected policies. Many facilities may begin to scale back access to gender-affirming care and research, even before any new rules are finalized, in an effort to avoid retaliation from the Trump administration.
Baker remains hopeful that career scientists and health experts within HHS will help mitigate some of the harmful proposals expected from the new administration. He stresses the importance of relying on scientific expertise to guide policy, particularly when it comes to public health issues that impact vulnerable communities.
