By Ann Rostow—
Gray Areas
On February 4, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons issued a position paper, recommending that transgender minors delay surgical procedures until adulthood. One day later, the American Medical Association followed suit. “In the absence of clear evidence,” they said in a statement, “the A.M.A. agrees with A.S.P.S. that surgical interventions in minors should be generally deferred to adulthood.”
Hmmm. On the one hand, we all sort of agree with this. Hormones and puberty blockers are reversible. Surgery is not. Like many transgender issues, the complexities make it hard for us as allies to fight the black-and-white rhetoric that pervades rightwing politics, not to mention the mix of ignorance and indifference we see from many others.
Here are the facts, according to a link to a JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) paper I found in The New York Times. Surgery for transgender youth is primarily breast removal for transgender boys. Of the 3,600 gender surgeries performed on kids aged 12–18 in the five years between 2016 and 2020, some 3,215 were chest operations. It makes sense. Breasts appear well before the age of 19, and, although you might strap down small ones, a transgender boy with 36Ds faces years of pure hell. It’s understandable that your transgender son would want to be rid of them years before he turns 19.
But these are kids. And they are kids who have lived through a period of rapid change when it comes to the place of gender and sexual orientation in society. How do you tell the difference between a preteen transboy who is suffering greatly, and a cisgender girl who is trying on a new persona, being a tomboy, or simply worrying about growing up? Are you going to let your busty 13-year-old girl chop off her breasts because she now says she’s transgender? Probably not! But what about the kid who has wanted to be a boy and wear boys clothes from the age of four of five? Has he convinced you by now?
In terms of surgery, we’re talking about teenagers, not prepubescent kids. But, honestly, I’m still not sure what I think, although I can see why it might be called for. I’m certain, however, that hormone treatment and puberty blockers should be available, and I’m even more certain that all care for transgender youth should be made on a case-by-case basis and well-regulated as a medical practice. It’s noteworthy that both the Plastic Surgeons and the AMA presented their policies as advisory, not as mandates for doctors. Still, it doesn’t help our cause to see two major medical associations retreat to caution in such a public way. It will certainly be used against us as we fight for these complicated young lives in the future. About half the states now outlaw hormone treatments, thanks to the Supreme Court’s anti-trans ruling last year.
Meanwhile, a few days before the medical groups made their announcements, a 22-year-old woman who has detransitioned won a two-million-dollar jury verdict in her malpractice suit against the team that approved her top surgery six years ago. According to The New York Times article, it sounds as if the surgery was organized without a comprehensive evaluation. Adam Deutsch, the lawyer who represented Fox Varian in her complaint against her psychologist and her plastic surgeon, said the suit was not meant to call gender surgery into question, but involved malpractice, pure and simple. “This was never a debate over the legitimacy of gender-affirming care,” said Deutsch. “It was about whether medical professionals met the standards that covered their own profession.”
Dr. Loren Schecter, President-Elect of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), testified on behalf of Varian. In a statement, WPATH said the case was “a medical malpractice case, not a referendum on gender-affirming care.” According to the Times, Varian’s psychologist had no experience with transgender care, misdiagnosed Varian’s status as “body dysmorphia,” pressured Varian’s mother to allow surgery, and failed to check with a counseling service. Indeed, Varian had told a counselor she wasn’t sure about transitioning, even as she insisted on surgery rather than hormone treatment. She was fifteen at the time.
Under Attack
I am skipping the Olympics to write to you this morning, but I can’t help but notice all the GLBT athletes. I hadn’t realized that the skier who won a gold medal in downhill racing, Breezy Johnson, came out as bisexual a couple of years ago. Also, I just learned that her parents legally changed her name from Breanna to Breezy while she was still in high school because they wanted (or she wanted) her legal name to match her nickname. Really? What’s wrong with having a regular name and just using your nickname at will? Why make the cumbersome effort to jump through bureaucratic hoops in order to cement a nickname into officialdom?
There was also our top skater, 26-year-old Amber Glenn, who announced she was bisexual and pansexual when she was nineteen, and who has used her platform to shine a light on queer issues. At a press conference with the gold-medal American skating team, Glenn told reporters that the GLBT community has had a hard time under the Trump administration.
“It isn’t the first time that we’ve had to come together as a community and try and fight for our human rights. And now, especially, it’s not just affecting the queer community, but many other communities. I think that we are able to support each other in a way that we didn’t have to before, and, because of that, it’s made us a lot stronger.”
After her comments, Glenn received what she called a “scary amount” of online hate messages and threats and decided to lie low for a bit. “I will be limiting my time on social media for my own well-being for now,” she wrote on Instagram. “But, I will never stop using my voice for what I believe in. Xoxo, Amber.”
I am sure there are dozens of other GLBT athletes at the winter games, but I’m struck by the hostility that seems to run deeper than my memories of the late 20th century disdain for our tribe. Back then, being gay or lesbian was shameful, subjected to ridicule, and thought of as an unnatural peccadillo or a sick perversion. Today, from some quarters, being anything but straight and narrow is grounds for vitriol and even violence. In Germany the other day, a gay activist and soccer referee proposed marriage to his boyfriend during a game, and drew a rousing cheer from the crowd of 50,000. According to the website Out, Pascal Kaiser had already been receiving threats online, where his home address had been posted. But, after the proposal, he was beaten by three men at night while smoking in his garden. He is now under police protection.
Penisgate at the Olympics
In unrelated sports news, just to lighten our mood after the disturbing anecdotes we just considered, I am sure you read about the ski jumpers who have injected something into their penises in order to improve their performances.
When I first encountered these headlines, (thanks to my cousin, ever alert to the most titillating news bits), I thought their lengthened appendages might give them more flight time. On second thought, this seemed unlikely. Plus, I would have noticed someone flying through the air with an erection. I know I’m a lesbian, but I’m nonetheless impressed by the football players who put their family jewels on display through their see-through white uniforms. Is it deliberate? And why aren’t they worried about injury? It looks as if the whole basket is just floating free these days. What happened to jock straps and cups?
Where were we? Ah, ski jumpers. It turns out that jumping attire is highly regulated because just a few extra centimeters of material can make a difference in the air. The suit, in turn, is based on a 3D scan of the jumper, from the tip of the penis upwards. Some jumpers, it is rumored, have expanded their outfits through the use of a cosmetic filler called hyaluronic acid. One doctor, Eric Chung, told The Guardian that an incorrect dose or a bad injection technique “would cause penile pain, poor cosmesis [disfigurement], deformity, infection, inflammation, sensory change, and sexual dysfunction.” Sometimes, he continued, “infection can spread to cause gangrene (tissue necrosis) and loss of the penis.” Woah, Nellie!
I’m not sure why this procedure, which has not been used by any actual named Olympic jumpers that I know of, has exploded on the media, and I don’t feel like crawling through reports to find out. But I guess someone has tried it, and, if the rest of the world press corps is anything like me, the very idea is worth rehashing.
From Russia With Hate
The situation for GLBT people in Russia has gone from bad, to worse, to surreal. Back in 2012, I remember writing about a “Don’t Say Gay” law in St. Petersburg, where local leaders ordained that saying anything positive about homosexuality would become a criminal act. I presented this as a bizarre outlier, but a couple of years later, the regulation spread to Moscow and eventually became a national policy. In 2023, the Russian Supreme Court ruled that the international LGBTQ movement was an extremist organization, subject to strict penalties, raids, arrests, penalties, fines, what have you. Basically, anything goes if you mention homosexuality in a positive or neutral way.
Recently, according to Novaya Gazeta Europe, Russian scientific journal Batrachospermum was ordered to redo a newly translated book about animal sexuality. The book includes descriptions of same-sex behavior, the unusual reproductive habits of hermaphrodite snails and worms, and other anomalies. It also refers to odd genitalia, such as pedipalps, aedeagi, and hectocotyli, used for sperm transfer by various insects and octopuses.
These topics were enough to draw official notice, and the book is accused of violating the rules against discussing nontraditional sex and anatomy. Any description of homosexual behavior that does not contain disgust or criticism is considered “propaganda of nontraditional relationships” and is against the law.
This is a book about non-human animals!
From the same website, I also read about a 22-year-old man who was given a fine for posting a clip of a Queen video, in which the members of the band were crossdressing. David Geyondyan was convicted last year and recently lost his appeal. He was also accused of posting other improper photos, including one of two men kissing, images that “positively evaluate non-traditional sexual relationships as natural” and “distort the understanding of relations between men and women, undermining family values.”
Florida Men
Once, as I implied earlier, I would have dismissed those aforementioned Russia stories as crazy antics out of an antigay dictatorship. A few minutes ago, I was searching for the date of that St. Petersburg law, so I typed in “St. Petersburg, don’t say gay law.” I had to amend my search to add “Russia,” because the first search gave me nothing but news about St. Petersburg, Florida, where protesters condemned the 2022 “Parental Rights in Education” law, part of Ron DeSantis’ effort to turn Florida into the place where “woke goes to die.” Today, four years later, an undercurrent of intolerance has flooded Florida and other low parts of our country. Even as it retreats, which I think it eventually will as Americans start to notice the warped flooring, it will take time and effort to restore our society.
Meanwhile, in Orlando, organizers appeared to cancel the annual Gay Days celebration, a multi-day Pride festival that has been held at Disney World for years and years. In a post to “Gay Days Family” last week, the Gay Days leaders wrote: “It is with very heavy hearts that we share Gay Days 2026 will not take place this year. This was an incredibly difficult decision and one that was only made after every possible option was explored.”
In an email to The Washington Blade, the news seemed to be reversed. “At this time,” wrote Josh Duke, Co-Owner of Gay Days, “I’d like to clarify that Gay Days Orlando has not been canceled. We are currently finalizing details regarding our plans for 2026 and will be making an official announcement later this week.”
The mystery continues as we go to press, but let’s be clear. What happens in Russia doesn’t necessarily stay in Russia. Yet, as red state America continues to make our lives harder and more fearful, we continue to persevere. As Amber Glenn reminded us, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.
GLBT Fortnight in Review
Published on February 12, 2026
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