Buried NIH Trans Report Did DEI Search for ‘Youth of Color’ and Males for Study

Researchers examining the effects of puberty blockers and transgender hormones for ages 8 through 20 set a goal of enrolling “additional youth of color” and more “assigned male at birth” participants for a taxpayer-funded study.

This is because the participants getting these treatments skewed overwhelmingly white, as well as toward a majority of young females who wanted to be males, according to the findings.

The Oversight Project, a watchdog group, obtained the final report of “The Impact of Early Medical Treatment in Transgender Youth” and shared it with the Daily Signal.

Explaining the major goals of the project, the study said the primary objective was to examine for another two years the psychological and physiological effects of hormone treatments on participants in the study. After that, it addressed diversity.

“The second objective is to enhance the diversity and size of existing cohorts by enrolling additional youth of color into both cohorts and enroll additional assigned male at birth youth into the GAH cohort,” the study says.

The National Institutes of Health first allocated a nine-year grant for up to $10 million for a study through Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The study was led by Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, who specializes in “gender affirming care.” The study included people as young as 8 and as old as 20.

Neither the hospital nor Olson-Kennedy, now in private practice, responded to inquiries for this story.

The study was long awaited. The New York Times first reported in late 2024 that the study of almost 100 children would not be published in part because Olson-Kennedy feared the findings would be “weaponized.”

The report goes on to say it seeks to “enroll youth with a focus on enrolling ethnic/racial minority youth to better reflect the increasingly diverse clinical populations.”

The racial breakdown was heavily white, at 67%, compared to 9% Hispanic, 3% Asian, and 4% Black.

The study had two categories. The sample included youth ages 8-16 getting puberty blockers and ages 12-20 getting transgender hormone treatments. The younger group was effectively even between males and females, while the older group skewed heavily female.

Of the group getting puberty blockers, 52% were males, “assigned male at birth.” The other 48% were females, or “assigned female at birth.”

The cohort with “gender affirming hormones,” or GAH, was 65% female and 35% male.

The Oversight Project expressed concerns about what it considers the questionable goal of enrolling “additional youth of color” and “assigned male at birth” participants.

“The study looked at more girls who think they want to be boys,” Oversight Project Director of State Litigation Neal Cornett told the Daily Signal. “They want to recruit more youth of color. That could be because of the demographics of Los Angeles.”

The report further addresses the demographics, stating, “Initially, all racial and ethnic categories were eligible to enroll in the first grant period; however, it became evident that the percentages of white youth enrolling were higher than expected, reflecting the rates of youth at all four sites.”