Fact Check: Did Sen. Tammy Baldwin fund an org that pushed an “aggressive LGBTQ agenda on kids”?

Out lesbian Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is currently running for reelection. She’s facing a challenge from Republican entrepreneur Eric Hovde.

Republicans have been releasing a slew of attack ads against Baldwin. One such ad, which comes from the Senate Leadership Fund Super PAC, claimed that “Baldwin supported providing puberty blockers and sex change surgeries to minor children.” Another ad from the Hovde campaign stated that Baldwin “ensured hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars went to a Madison nonprofit that pushes an aggressive LGBTQ agenda on kids.”

Related:

Fact Check: Are schools performing transition surgeries on students without parental consent?

Donald Trump claimed that schools are medically transitioning kids behind their parents’ backs. Is this true?

LGBTQ Nation evaluated the truthfulness of both of these claims to see whether they have any merit.

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Puberty Blockers and Sex Changes

The claim that Baldwin supports “puberty blockers and sex change surgeries” likely stems from a post on X Baldwin published on October 5, 2023. The post quotes Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D), who showed a video that expresses his intent to veto anti-trans bills.

Baldwin wrote: “Trans kids deserve to feel safe and welcome in Wisconsin, not discriminated against. They deserve the freedom to just be kids, play sports, and get the health care they need, all without politicians butting in. Thanks for standing up for LGBTQ+ kids, @GovEvers.”

Trans kids deserve to feel safe and welcome in Wisconsin, not discriminated against. They deserve the freedom to just be kids, play sports, and get the health care they need, all without politicians butting in. Thanks for standing up for LGBTQ+ kids, @GovEvers. https://t.co/jNiYdcygNP

— Sen. Tammy Baldwin (@SenatorBaldwin) October 5, 2023

Neither the post nor Evers’ video discusses puberty blockers and gender-affirming surgeries. There is no evidence that Baldwin supports such surgeries for minors.

However, the ad is likely referring to Evers’ commitment to veto any bill that restricts gender-affirming care for minors and the support Baldwin expressed for that. He did this very thing and vetoed a ban on gender-affirming care just months after the original video was published.

Nevertheless, the ad suggests this is supporting a specific medical decision – which is not the case. These types of vetoes express support for allowing families to decide what type of care is appropriate for them and their child, contrary to what the ad implies.

“I object to restricting physicians from providing evidence-based and medically appropriate care to their patients, restricting parents from making medical decisions with physicians to ensure their kids receive the healthcare they need, and preventing patients from receiving that basic, life-saving care,” Evers wrote in his veto message.

Gender-affirming care is medically necessary according to leading medical associations like the American Medical Association and also the U.S. government. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Offices for Civil Rights details how denial of coverage for gender-affirming care violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. Earlier this year, federal courts ruled that such care is medically necessary and needs to be included in state-funded health insurance plans.

Gender-affirming care includes hormone replacement therapy, puberty blockers, fertility preservation treatments, and gender-affirming surgeries, which may include surgeries to change one’s chest and genitalia.

Puberty blockers are a safe, evidence-backed form of gender-affirming care that is widespread internationally. They are backed by medical institutions like the Endocrine Society and the American Medical Association.

Minors almost never receive any form of gender-affirming surgery. In 2019, a study found that only 85 minors in the United States received any form of gender-affirming surgery at all. Of these minors, 96.4% received some type of top surgery, most commonly breast reductions. Almost all of the surgeries conducted were on minors between the ages of 15 and 17, and none were performed on minors under the age of 12. This same study found that cisgender boys with gynecomastia, a condition that leads to unwanted breast development, were more likely to get gender-affirming surgeries at a rate of 146.

This low prevalence is in part due to the stringent guidelines protecting minors from receiving any type of care, especially surgeries.

The “Madison Nonprofit”

The claim about the “Madison nonprofit” refers to Baldwin directing $400,000 in funding earlier this year towards Briarpatch Youth Services, a runaway and homeless shelter for youth in the city of Madison.

It is true that Briarpatch has a support group for LGBTQ+ youth called Teens Like Us, however none of the funding Baldwin sent went to this program. This program is only a weekly meeting group, and there is no evidence that Briarpatch provides any medical care for youth or that any agenda is being “pushed.” The group creates a welcoming, safe, and inclusive space for meeting other youth from the LGBTQ+ community.

PolitiFact and Wisconsin Watch additionally have provided evidence that this is not true.

In a statement given to LGBTQ Nation, Jill Pfeiffer, the Executive Director of Briarpatch, said: “Reputable outlets such as PolitiFact and Wisconsin Watch have verified that public claims made about our agency are false. Briarpatch is not a clinic as has been claimed.”

“The funding provided to Briarpatch through Baldwin’s efforts is earmarked to develop a therapeutic counseling program for youth who are experiencing homelessness and facing other challenges. Those funds cannot be used for other programs such as Teens Like Us.”

“Regardless of political talking points, we continue to focus on strengthening our community by making sure youth facing hardships have access to voluntary resources and services they need to flourish and succeed.”

The Baldwin campaign’s response

In response to a request for comment from LGBTQ Nation, a representative with the Baldwin campaign directed us to the Wisconsin Watch fact check, one from The Advocate, and one from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Each of these refutes Hovde’s claims, each suggesting that Hovde made false and/or misleading claims in his ad.

Based on the above evidence, the claims made in the Senate Leadership Fund’s ad and the Hovde campaign’s ad are false and entirely based on misleading information.

LGBTQ Nation rates both claims as False. While Baldwin may support puberty blockers and/or gender-affirming surgeries, the evidence given does not support that claim, and there is no evidence that Briarpatch pushes an LGBTQ+ agenda or provides medical services.

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