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‘Efforts to chill speech’ have had ‘disastrous consequences for the kids caught up in this mess,’ medical advocacy group says

Professors who are critical of “gender-affirming care” should be fired and lose their academic titles, a Harvard University professor and faculty chair recently said.

“There’s a particular place in hell for academics who use their academic expertise and power to distort and do violence to people in the world,” Professor Timothy McCarthy told Washington Square News. The New York University student newspaper interviewed McCarthy for his thoughts about two professors at the school who are affiliated with groups that are critical of surgical and chemical interventions for gender dysphoria.

Two medical advocacy groups, including one criticized by McCarthy, told The College Fix the professor’s “approach would suppress valid scientific inquiries to enforce ideological alignment” and result in “disastrous consequences for the kids caught up in this mess.”

McCarthy told WSN that any professor, whether at Harvard or elsewhere, who is a member of organizations that are critical of “gender-affirming” medical treatments, including Therapy First and Genspect, should face dismissal.

The professor “said that while a level of suspicion and inquiry into medical practices is healthy, the purpose of questioning the validity of gender-affirming care is oftentimes intended to ‘poison the waters’ and raise concern around the common practice,” WSN reported.

McCarthy also told the outlet “that the tactics employed by organizations like Therapy First and Genspect are part of a longer history of spreading misinformation about trans identity.”

These groups favor talk therapy to explore “pathological” roots of gender dysphoria over “affirming” treatments like hormone therapy, WSN reported.

The Fix asked McCarthy via email for any additional context to these quotes and whether he believes professors should not be hired if they are critical of surgeries or drugs for transgender minors. 

“I see what you’re doing here—it’s a tired, ancient playbook—and I hope you know that you have picked a fight with the wrong veteran of these culture wars,” McCarthy wrote in response.

According to Harvard Kennedy School’s website, McCarthy “was the first openly gay faculty member” at the public policy school “and still teaches the school’s only course on LGBTQ matters.”

It also states “he is Faculty Chair of the Global LGBTQI+ Human Rights Program at the Carr Center and Faculty Affiliate at the Center for Public Leadership.”

“He currently serves on the national Board of Directors for the Clemente Course in the Humanities,” according to his bio.

MORE: NYU medical center cancels ‘gender-affirming care’ for minors

In an email statement to The Fix, a Genspect spokesperson said “Professor McCarthy’s call to remove academics” associated with the organization “represents a disturbing attack on academic freedom and scientific inquiry.”

The international group works “with a diverse range of professionals, trans individuals, detransitioners, and parent groups to advocate for non-medicalized solutions to gender distress,” according to its website. Its mission is to “support individuals in expressing their true selves without unnecessary medical interventions.”

“The claim that our work constitutes ‘violence’ is both false and dangerous. What truly harms vulnerable individuals is shutting down scientific inquiry and preventing honest examination of treatment outcomes,” the spokesperson said.

He also told The Fix:

Creating an environment where questioning certain treatments leads to professional destruction would devastate scientific progress. It would prevent crucial data collection, discourage reporting of negative outcomes, and ultimately harm patients by cementing treatment protocols without proper scrutiny.

Good science requires debate and examination of evidence, not enforced consensus. When clinicians fear losing their careers for raising concerns, patient care inevitably suffers. We’ve already seen researchers and clinicians afraid to publish findings that don’t align with prevailing narratives. McCarthy’s suggestion would formalize this chilling effect, making it impossible to conduct the research needed to truly understand how to best help gender-distressed individuals.

Further, leading health bodies in England, Sweden, Finland, and elsewhere have recently adopted more cautious policies after reviewing the evidence. This shift was made possible by researchers and clinicians having the freedom to challenge established methods, the spokesperson said.

“Academic intimidation tactics have no place in scientific discourse, and calls to purge universities of dissenting viewpoints should concern everyone who values the pursuit of truth,” he said.

Similarly, Ian Kingsbury, research director for medical advocacy group Do No Harm, told The Fix via email that McCarthy’s “failure to provide evidence” that Genspect or Therapy First “have engaged in ‘distortions’ or ‘violence’ is telling.”

Both are “serious organizations with an excellent track record,” Kingsbury said.

“Efforts to chill speech have been instrumental in shielding the medical scandal that is pediatric gender ‘medicine.’ That impulse has had disastrous consequences for the kids caught up in this mess, and sets a terrible precedent for scientific inquiry generally,” he said.

Editor’s note: The article has been amended to include Professor McCarthy’s comments to The Fix. 

MORE: UConn invites trans people to train med students in ‘gender-affirming care’

IMAGE: Harvard Graduate School of Education/Youtube

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