### Trump Repeats False Claims About Gender-Affirming Surgeries in Schools

Former President Donald Trump continues to propagate the unsubstantiated claim that U.S. schools are performing gender-affirming surgeries on children without parental consent, despite a lack of evidence from his own campaign and fact-checks debunking the story. Trump initially made the assertion in late August, which was promptly refuted by major news outlets, including CNN, in early September. As the election period intensifies, Trump has revived this narrative in various public appearances.

During a recent segment recorded at a New York City barbershop by Fox News, Trump reiterated the controversial claim while discussing education policies: "No transgender, no operations - you know, they take your kid - there are some places, your boy leaves for school, comes back a girl. Okay? Without parental consent." He insisted that such incidents were indeed happening, despite lacking concrete examples or mentioning specific locations.

Trump repeated the allegation during an October interview with podcast host Joe Rogan, describing scenarios where schools supposedly convert children’s genders without informing their parents. Yet, neither he nor his campaign have provided any evidence to support these claims.

According to medical and health experts, Trump’s claims are patently false. Landon Hughes, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and co-author of a study on gender-affirming surgeries in the U.S., confirmed that no schools perform or arrange for such surgeries without parental consent. Dr. Meredithe McNamara from Yale School of Medicine emphasized that all surgeries are conducted in qualified medical centers with requisite parental approval, especially for minors.

Medical guidelines from authoritative bodies like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health also stipulate that parental consent is mandatory for any gender-affirming treatments, including puberty blockers or hormone therapy, for individuals under 18. Dr. Laura Taylor, who directs the gender-affirming care program at the University of Southern California, reiterated that informed consent from parents is a legal necessity for any related medical or surgical procedures for minors.

Despite the baseless nature of his claims, Trump’s narrative seeks to inflame a broader debate on how educational institutions handle gender identity matters. However, experts and data consistently affirm that the procedural reality in the U.S. requires explicit parental consent for any form of gender-affirming treatment or surgery for minors.