The American Academy of Pediatrics is a creature of the gender ideologues and the woke Left. I can see no other judgment based on the two chosen keynote speakers for its upcoming national convention.
In addition to the usual kind of medical education such conferences offer, the two keynoters are clearly ideological choices to promote the cultural Left to convention attendees.
The closing address will be given by the notorious Dr. Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services and a gender ideologue of the most radical order. How extreme? Despite abundant scientific evidence to the contrary, Levine, who is transgendered, continues to call “gender-affirming care” — such as puberty blockers and surgeries — “medically necessary, safe, and effective” in arguing against state laws that protect gender-dysphoric minors.
More disgracefully — while in government — Levine prevailed upon the ideological faux “medical” association of gender ideology, WPATH, to have its care guidelines erase all age limitations on transition surgeries for minors for political reasons, i.e., that restrictions could increase opposition to these interventions. That’s about as extreme as gender ideology gets.
The other keynoter is a very accomplished “queer” physician, author, and Emmy winner, Seema Yasmin. Showing on which side of the cultural/political divide she sails, Yasmin wrote a children’s book titled The ABCs of Queer History — for ages 5 and up, described as:
And ultimately, it’s a book to help kids learn a different kind of ABCs—not just words like apple, ball or cat, but rather the essence of what it means to be diverse, to be equitable, to be inclusive. That no one counts unless we all count, and how we must open our eyes and ears, minds and hearts, to hear everyone’s story and understand and celebrate their experience.
Yasmin also just authored a pro-abortion futuristic novel out for young people ages 14 and up — Unbecoming — about an America “where abortion is prosecuted and the right to choose is no longer an option,” in which two heroic Muslim girls write the “Texas Teen’s Guide to Safe Abortion” and work to create a guide for underground abortions.
In the adult realm, Yasmin was a strong public supporter — using her authority as a physician at Stanford — of the unconstitutional California law that would have punished doctors for what she called “spreading false information about Covid and its treatments,” defined in A.B. 2098 as “contradicted by contemporary scientific consensus contrary to the standard of care.” The law was not only quickly ruled invalid by a federal judge but recently was repealed.
The point of this post isn’t about the views of speakers per se, but how their choice to be the two keynoters evidences just how one-sidedly ideological the AAP has become on issues of great cultural importance. When it speaks out on such matters, people should judge the group’s advocacy accordingly.
Editor’s Note: This post has been edited since its original publication.