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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Thursday criticized one of Biden’s health nominees, a transgender woman, over her support of gender reassignment surgery and hormone therapy for minors.
Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania’s top health official, would serve as assistant secretary of health if confirmed by the Senate. In his questions at Levine’s confirmation hearing, Paul tried to draw a connection between genital mutilation — a practice condemned by public health experts as a human rights violation — and surgery and medication for children who are transitioning genders. Paul also complained about Levine’s support for children who make the decision to take hormone-blocking medications despite the concerns of their parents.
“For most of our history, we have believed that minors don’t have full rights and that parents need to be involved,” Paul said. “We should be outraged that someone’s talking to a 3-year-old about changing their sex.”
Levine — who is bidding to be the highest-ranking out transgender official in federal government history — sidestepped Paul’s specific points and responded in general terms.
“Transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field with robust research and standards of care that have been developed,” Levine said, promising to discuss the issue further with Paul if confirmed.
Some evangelical groups and religious-liberty advocates have criticized Biden’s nomination of Levine as an effort to “normalize” being transgender. But LGTBQ advocates have rallied behind Levine’s candidacy, and some health experts quickly castigated Paul’s remarks.
“This is a disgusting line of questioning,” Vanessa Lamers of the Public Health Foundation wrote on Twitter.
“Any senator who votes against Dr. Levine is motivated not by an honest review of her qualifications or concern for the nation’s health, but instead by cynical partisan politics or outright bigotry,” Annise Parker, president of the LGBTQ Victory Institute and a former mayor of Houston, said in a statement.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chairwoman of the Senate Health Committee, later praised Levine’s answers and rebuked Paul’s questions.
“It is really critical to me that our nominees be treated with respect and that our questions focus on their qualifications and the work ahead of us, rather than on ideological and harmful misrepresentations like those we heard from Senator Paul earlier,” Murray said.
