This week, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) announced the retirement of her state health secretary after reports broke that the state health department contracted with a transgender advocacy group that is partaking in a “gender summit” next month. Reportedly, Noem was not aware that the health department had partnered with the organization.
Noem announced the retirement of state health secretary, Joan Adam, on Monday, according to The Daily Signal. In Noem’s statement regarding Adam’s retirement, she did not mention the controversy surrounding the transgender advocacy group.
“Joan has lived a life of service to the Pierre community and to the people of South Dakota,” Noem said in the statement in a press release. “She has been able to put families first because she recognizes the importance of her own family. I am grateful for her advice and wish her the best on everything that she does.”
Last week, Noem’s office told the outlet that she would review all the contracts within the state’s Department of Health after the contract with the transgender advocacy group, The Transformation Project, came to light.
“Gov. Kristi Noem is reviewing all Department of Health contracts and immediately terminated a contract with The Transformation Project,” Ian Fury, Noem’s chief of communications, told The Signal on Friday. Fury noted that the contract was signed with Noem’s knowledge or approval. And, the organization was reportedly not complying with the contract.
“South Dakota does not support this organization’s efforts, and state government should not be participating in them,” Noem told the outlet in a statement. “We should not be dividing our youth with radical ideologies. We should treat every single individual equally as a human being.”
Linda Schauer, the South Dakota state director for Concerned Women for America, told The Daily Signal following the news of Adam’s retirement that she is glad Noem is “cleaning house.”
Reportedly, the third annual Midwest Gender Identity Summit is scheduled to take place in South Dakota next month. The Transformation project, an organization aimed at “supporting and empowering transgender youth” was involved with the summit. Some of the topics at the summit reportedly include navigating “gender-affirming” care, which includes irreversible hormone therapy treatments and surgeries.
This month, Townhall reported that a new study reviewed by Daily Mail found that the number of “top surgeries” performed on minor girls at a health system in California has risen “13-fold” in the last decade. “Top surgery” is a term used to describe a double mastectomy procedure for biological females who are transitioning to live as men (via Daily Mail):
Results showed children as young as 12 were offered irreversible operations between 2013 and 2020. The overall incidence of mastectomies among minors rose from 3.7 per 100,000 persons-years to 47.7 per 100,000 in that time.
And last month, Townhall reported how Chloe Cole, an 18-year-old de-transitioner, announced that she would sue the medical professionals who performed her double mastectomy procedure when she was still a minor.
“My teenage life has been the culmination of excruciating pain, regret, and, most importantly, injustice,” Cole said when she announced her lawsuit. “It is impossible for me to recoup what I have lost, but I will ensure no child will be harmed at the hands of these liars and mutilators. I am suing these monsters.”
Cole, who is still de-transitioning, has opened up on multiple occasions about her experience undergoing “gender-affirming” treatments. After undergoing the double mastectomy at age 15, she came to regret her decision a year later. And she continues to suffer complications from the procedure, according to Catholic News Agency.