Gender Ideology, Sex Education, and “Gender Affirming” Procedures Criticized by Experts at a UN Forum

From February 2 to 11 at United Nations Headquarters in New York, the 64th session of the Commission for Social Development took place. This body plays a significant role in promoting social policy that supports the UN’s overall development goals, especially in the areas of poverty eradication, social inclusion, and ensuring full employment and decent working conditions for all.

As a session side event, a conference titled “Mental Health Harms of Pediatric Gender Affirming Care” was also held. During the meeting, which was attended by experts from various fields, a number of practices related to so-called “gender affirming” (“sex change”) procedures and gender ideology were criticized. The sex education programs promoted by the UN were also negatively evaluated.

The Conference dedicated to the topic of “gender affirmation” was organized by Concepts of Truth International, an organization that provides medical assistance based on Christian values, and the Permanent Mission of Burundi to the UN. Participants in the discussion included, among others:

– Zéphyrin Maniratanga, lawyer, diplomat, and Permanent Representative of Burundi to the United Nations;

– Miriam Grossman, an American psychiatrist;

– Joseph Figliolia, a psychologist and political analyst from the USA;

– Laura Perry Smalts, a victim of practices associated with the so-called “gender affirming care” (“sex change” procedures) ;

Zéphyrin Maniratanga, Burundi’s representative to the United Nations and the first to take the floor, referred in his address to the UN’s achievements and the need to protect the family. “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that the family is the natural and fundamental unit of society and has the right to protection by the state. In Burundi, the traditional family remains at the heart of our social life and cultural values, and the extended family plays a significant role in social cohesion,” the lawyer noted. He also emphasized that, for his country, the family is a “key actor” in sustainable development, a space of intergenerational solidarity, and a place where children enjoy security and cultivate core values. In his speech, the diplomat made it clear that the values mentioned above are incompatible with practices related to “sex change” in children. “Subjecting children to medical procedures that permanently alter their reproductive capacity endangers their current and future family stability and poses a risk to their health and dignity,” said Maniratanga. The Burundian lawyer further noted that the best interests of the child should be the primary criterion for institutions responsible for protecting and caring for children.

Dr. Miriam Grossman opened her speech with an unequivocal condemnation of ideological practices that violate human dignity. “I am here to explain why ‘gender-affirming care’, which is being aggressively promoted in your countries by UN agencies such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, should be rejected,” the U.S. psychiatrist emphasized. In this context, Dr. Grossman highlighted the risks posed by sex education programs promoted by UN agencies. “These programs do not promote sexual health. They promote sexual permissiveness, which puts young people, especially young women, at risk of unwanted pregnancy, emotional suffering, and incurable infections.” She also emphasized that this topic is related to gender ideology, which she described as “an absurd departure from reality and a recipe for a physical and emotional catastrophe for our children.”

The American psychiatrist called it “absurd” that the UN will soon hold a session of the Commission on the Status of Women while at the same time including transsexual people—i.e., “men who identify as women”—in its definition of “women”. Dr. Grossman also cited statistics on the outcomes of “gender affirming” procedures and described specific, drastic cases associated with such pseudo-medical practices.

Jospeh Figliolia argued that the practices under discussion lack strong scientific support and pointed out that the “key players” creating an “illusion of consensus” regarding “gender-affirming care for children” in the United States are the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (—WPATH), the American Endocrine Society, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Laura Perry Smalts, in turn, pointed to the need to provide psychological assistance to people struggling with issues related to their own gender identity. “We do not provide these children with the necessary psychological support. We offer them short-term fixes that make them feel better for a moment but don’t eliminate the reason they don’t like themselves,” emphasized Smalts, who in the past struggled with similar problems herself.

“The recent conference, organized as part of a session of the UN Commission for Social Development, is noteworthy primarily because it fits into a broader trend of recognizing the harms and far-reaching negative consequences associated with “sex change” procedures, especially with regard to children and adolescents. It should also be noted that the event took place within the structures of the UN, that is, an international organization known for promoting a left-liberal agenda, including on issues related to ‘sex change,’” commented Patryk Ignaszczak of the Ordo Iuris Center for International Law.

Read also:

• UN: An Increasingly Broad Coalition of Pro-Life Countries Against So-Called “Reproductive and Sexual Rights”
• How the United StatesChallenges Abortion and Reproductive Rights Language in UN Documents