The transgender community became a central talking point during President Trump’s address to the nation and Congress on Tuesday, where he made false claims that Democrats had funded scientific studies to “make mice transgender.”
In the opening portion of his speech, Trump declared that there are only two genders—male and female—and emphasized his efforts to ban trans women from participating in women’s sports. As he shifted to criticizing government-funded programs and research initiatives introduced by Democrats, he singled out one study in particular—what he described as research on “making mice transgender.”
While addressing Congress, Trump claimed that Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have been working to expose wasteful government spending, alleging that an “$8 million study for making mice transgender” was among the expenditures.
CNN journalist Deirde McPhillips disputed Trump’s assertion, stating, “Between the 2021 and 2022 fiscal years, the National Institutes of Health awarded a total of $477,121 to three projects that involved administering feminizing hormone therapy to monkeys to understand how it may affect their immune system and make them more susceptible to HIV.”
She further explained, “Feminizing hormone therapy is a gender-affirming treatment used to block the effects of the male hormone testosterone and promote feminine characteristics among transgender women.”
McPhillips noted that a 2013 study...
As an elected Oxnard City Council member and graduate of the Oxnard Union High School District (Rio Mesa High Class of 1968), I’ve had the privilege to serve our residents since 2013. Much of my se...