5 controversies surrounding former NIH Director Francis Collins
3. LGBT madness
Collins publicly expressed support for LGBT-identified individuals in a statement declaring himself to be an "ally" to mark so-called pride month in 2021.
He wrote that the NIH joins "in celebrating Pride Month and recognizing the struggles, stories, and victories of those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and others under the sexual and gender minority (SGM) umbrella. I applaud the courage and resilience it takes for individuals to live openly and authentically…"
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Some of the studies NIH funded during Collins' tenure raised eyebrows among Christians, such as a $5.7 million grant initiated during the Obama administration to pediatric gender clinics studying the effects of "early medical treatment" on minors who identify as transgender.
In 2019, a Heritage Foundation panel discussion referenced a progress report, obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request, showing that Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, a principal investigator in the study, had lowered the age for cross-sex hormone eligibility from 13 to 8.
Olson-Kennedy’s research also included studies on girls identifying as boys who underwent bilateral mastectomies, some as young as 13.
Another NIH-funded project under Collins’ leadership supported the development of an app to track instances of "condomless anal sex" among underage boys.
