Charged with making important discoveries that improve health and save lives, the nation’s medical research agency gave a pediatrician and professor at a public university nearly half a million dollars to research gender-affirming care for youth in rural communities who identify as black, indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC). The National Institutes of Health (NIH), which annually disburses tens of billions of dollars in research grants, initiated the award during the Biden administration but some of the money flowed under Trump, even after the president banned taxpayer dollars for such initiatives advanced by the left. “Federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology,” reads an order issued by Trump on the day of his 2025 inauguration. “Each agency shall assess grant conditions and grantee preferences and ensure grant funds do not promote gender ideology.”
In this case the NIH, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), awarded a Seattle doctor and professor at the University of Washington $428,296 to “advance health equity by increasing health services research involving transgender and gender diverse youth, youth who identify as black, indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC), and youth living in rural communities,” according to the grant announcement. The government spending data reveals that the agency disbursed $143,000 in fiscal year 2025, even though the president banned public financing for projects like this that clearly promote gender ideology. “Gender diverse youth (GDY) who identify as BIPOC, as well as those living in rural communities, are more likely to experience depression and anxiety than their peers,” the NIH grant states. “Additionally, BIPOC and rural GDY are disproportionately underrepresented in pediatric gender clinics, limiting their access to pediatric gender-affirming care, which has been shown to improve mental health outcomes.”
The doctor and professor of pediatrics, Gina Sequeira, who is conducting the study is the co-director of the Seattle Children’s Gender Clinic and specializes in gender-affirming care for children. She was the focus of a lengthy 2022 article in a national news magazine that claimed pediatricians who serve trans youth face increasing harassment. “Lifesaving care could be on the line,” the story proclaimed, adding that only a small group of pediatricians provide gender affirming care in the United States. Sequeira is well-known for conducting research that identifies barriers to gender-affirming care for transgender adolescents and believes pediatricians should “open a door to have a conversation with young people about how they see their gender” during routine well-visits. “My hope is one day we get to a place where every clinician, regardless of their specialty, has the basic knowledge and skills to be able to conduct a visit with a transgender patient without hesitation and without the patient being made to feel uncomfortable or disrespected because of their identity,” Sequeira says.
Her recent NIH-funded study is supposed to examine how gender specialists who practice in large academic medical centers can connect with underage trans patients throughout the country. Sequeira will build on her existing research with transgender youth and their families to identify existing barriers preventing trans and BIPOC youth in rural communities from receiving gender-affirming care and design as well as implement access to care via telehealth. She is also charged with developing a technology-based enhanced gender support platform to facilitate a comprehensive gender-affirming care provision in the community pediatric setting. “Given few providers have received training in this area and most lack opportunities to consult with transgender specialists, telehealth modalities like telemedicine and electronic consultation show great potential in facilitating the provision of community-based gender-affirming care,” the NIH grant announcement states.
It is highly unlikely that American taxpayers will fund this type of research for the reminder of the Trump administration considering that earlier this year the White House officially ended the “Transgender for Everybody” insanity created by Democrats. Under the new policy the president declared it the official practice of the U.S. government that there are only two immutable sexes: male and female. “President Trump banned federal funding, sponsorship, or promotion of the chemical and surgical mutilation of minors—protecting children from irreversible harm and directing agencies to defund institutions engaged in these practices,” according to the White House press release outlining the policy in late March.
