Latest news with #RachelLevine
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Fury as controversial trans former health chief is given huge honor by all-women's college
A liberal arts women's college has come under fire for awarding former President Biden's transgender health secretary with an honorary degree. Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, announced it would be giving Admiral Rachel Levine an honorary degree. On Sunday, Levine was formally given the award - causing a protest on campus over the fact she is transgender. The college said it handed the award down for her work as an 'accomplished physician, public health expert, and LGBTQ + advocate'. She was one of four honorees selected by the college to speak at their commencement ceremony. Feminist group the Women's Declaration International had protested the decision last weekend prior to the ceremony. In a post to its X account they said: 'Tomorrow, Smith College - a historically women's college - will award Richard "Rachel" Levine an honorary degree. 'Levine, who pretends to be a woman, will then speak at commencement. We're on the ground in Northampton, MA to show our support for women.' 🚨Video of Biden transgender HSS official Rachel Levin's commencement address at Massachusetts all-women's Smith College. Obtained by @DailyCaller — Ashley Brasfield (@BrasfieldAshley) May 21, 2025 Prominent anti-trans activist Riley Gaines had also posted about the decision to hand Levine the degree. She wrote: 'Smith college, a private *women's* college in Massachusetts, awarded Rachel (Richard) Levine an honorary degree today. 'He then delivered the commencement address. Ladies, congratulations — your graduation was led by the very thing feminism was allegedly fighting.' While Biden's health secretary Levine had been pushing to make it easier for children under the age of 18 to change genders. Levine began her transition in 2011, when she was 54. She'd already been married for 23 years and raised two children, both of whom are now young adults. Levine has sparked controversy on multiple occasions as she endorsed providing to offer gender-affirming care to minors. She praised an Alaska gender-affirming care clinic in August of 2023, asserting the treatment it offered was 'lifesaving medical care.' The company she praised promotes ideas that children should learn that doctors 'assign' gender to babies by making a 'guess' - while also promoting the use of 'gender-inclusive biology.' Teachers and educators need to speak to children 'without assuming that there are only two sexes and that everyone within a particular sex is the same', they said. Prominent anti-trans activist Riley Gaines had also posted about the decision to hand Levine the degree Instead of using the word 'mother' in these conversations, they also recommend using terms such as 'egg producer' or 'carrier.' After word of the degree was spread on social media, users attacked the decision to hand it to Levine. One person posted: 'What a tragedy to have a man pretending to be a women receive an honorary degree at a woman's college.' Another commented: 'That's not progressive that's a slap to the face of all women. Educated women.' The commencement ceremony appears to have been plagued with problems, with fellow honoree Evelyn Harris, a musician, agreeing to give her degree back already. Smith College President Sarah Willie-LeBreton said in a letter on Tuesday, only two days after the ceremony, that Harris had been found to plagiarize her speech. The letter, seen by People, she said: 'It has come to our attention that one of our honorary degree recipients, musician Evelyn M. Harris, borrowed much of her speech to graduates and their families from the commencement speeches of others without the attribution typical of and central to the ideals of academic integrity. 'Ms. Harris was forthcoming about her choices while also acknowledging that she sought to infuse the words of others with her own emotional valence.'
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Anti-trans Alabama doctor nominated for HHS role formerly held by Rachel Levine has offered surgical care to transgender men
President Donald Trump has nominated an Alabama urologist with a long record of anti-trans rhetoric — and a history of marketing gender-affirming care to transgender men — to replace Rachel Levine in a top federal health role. Levine is the first transgender person confirmed by the U.S. Senate under the Biden administration. Keep up with the latest in + news and politics. Brian Christine, 61, has been selected to serve as assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services. This position oversees key public health initiatives and was previously held by Levine. Christine's nomination, which requires Senate confirmation, comes amid Trump's escalating efforts to roll back LGBTQ+ rights across the federal government — and has already sparked an outcry from advocates who accuse Christine of hypocrisy and political opportunism. Related: Dr. Rachel Levine Confirmed to HHS Post, Makes Transgender History Christine has spent recent years publicly denouncing gender-affirming care for transgender youth, calling it 'damaging' and falsely claiming it is part of a left-wing agenda to attack families, religion, and traditional gender roles. In an October 2022 podcast episode, Christine described gender dysphoria as a 'psychiatric condition' that should be treated with 'corrective care' — including counseling or 'pastoral care' — rather than medically supported gender affirmation. He accused 'the left' of using transgender youth 'as pawns to challenge traditional family' and 'attack traditional religion and theology.' Yet Christine — now seeking to lead national health policy — has publicly denied ever treating transgender patients. The Washington Post reports that in a recent statement released through the White House, Christine insisted: 'I have never treated transgender 'men' for sexual dysfunction, either with medication or surgery. I have never performed a surgical 'transition' of a man or woman. I have never prescribed hormones to a patient with gender dysphoria or to aid in 'transition.' I am not a specialist in transgender care. I do not offer treatment to patients diagnosed with gender dysphoria.' But The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Christine's practice had explicitly advertised care for transgender men. In a 2017 full-page ad in Peach ATL, an LGBTQ+ magazine, Christine promoted 'surgical treatment of erectile dysfunction in female-to-male transgender patients' and promised 'no prejudice or bias, just outstanding care' for gay, cisgender, and transgender men alike. His now-deleted website also listed care for transgender men among his specialties in 2017, according to an archived version, and a 2019 speaker biography at a urology conference similarly highlighted his work treating transgender patients. Related: Rachel Levine on being out in government and the 'faux' outrage over Trans Day of Visibility (exclusive) Major medical associations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychiatric Association, agree that gender-affirming care is evidence-based, medically necessary, and often lifesaving. Every major U.S. medical authority endorses this care—which may include puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or surgeries—for appropriately screened patients under professional guidance. Advocates called the contradictions disqualifying. In remarks to the Post, Human Rights Campaign national press secretary Brandon Wolf called Christine's nomination 'an affront to the groundbreaking leaders who have served in this crucial role and an insult to the communities he has thrown under the bus.' Christine's record stands in stark contrast to Levine, who, during her time in office, advocated for ensuring access to gender-affirming care for all transgender people, regardless of age. Christine, meanwhile, has aligned himself with political attacks on transgender health care — calling gender-affirming care for youth 'damaging,' comparing it to malpractice, and falsely suggesting it is part of a government-driven plot. Related: Rachel Levine's Emails Released in Alabama Transgender Care Case His nomination now heads to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, where Democrats — including Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, and Bernie Sanders of Vermont — will face pressure to confront Christine's record and past statements. No hearing has yet been scheduled.
