UA College of Nursing offers more details in response to viral post about gender identity

University of Arizona College of Nursing officials, responding to backlash over a viral social media post, said Friday that they don't advocate any policy about when and how to talk to young children about their gender identity.

The statement came two days after a social media post, which caused a firestorm of response, showing a slide from a UA College of Nursing lecture that appears to suggest speaking with kids as young as age 3 about their gender identity during wellness checks.

The ensuing "extreme vitriol" in emails to the College of Nursing was so bad that one professor wrote an email to fellow staff on Thursday morning giving them permission to work from home.

On Friday, the UA issued a statement saying the College of Nursing does not recommend or advocate for asking young children gender-related questions during wellness checks.

"The college does not have a policy or position on this issue and does not integrate this type of training or education into its curriculum," the statement said.

The Libs of TikTok account, which posts far-right and anti-LGBTQ+ content, at 1:36 p.m. Wednesday posted a photo of what it said was a slide about talking with kids about their gender identity that was shown during a UA College of Nursing class.

The slide in the photo is titled "Asking pediatric patients about gender identity." Under another heading titled "What to ask − ages 3 to 13," the slide read, "Some kids feel like a girl on the inside and some kids feel like a boy on the inside and some kids feel like neither, both, or someone else. What about you? How do you feel on the inside? There's no right or wrong answer."

Underneath is another heading, "When to ask" that read, "start around age 3, during the well visit."

The context of the slide was unclear in the social media post, and it was impossible to know whether it was part of a research project, if it was direct instruction to health providers or something else.

The lack of clarity didn't stop responders to the Libs of TikTok post from jumping to conclusions and condemning UA.

Arizona Senate Republicans joined the uproar, issuing a news release Friday that criticizes a "troubling curriculum" at the UA College of Nursing that aims to "cater to the radical left agenda and to steal the innocence of our young children."

UA: Slide in question was shown to doctoral students, not undergrads

UA officials on Thursday evening provided an emailed statement to The Arizona Republic in response to the viral post that said its College of Nursing was focused on preparing future health care providers for effective careers, "including educating them on how to address sensitive topics with children and their parents."

The statement said the UA strived to "provide balanced perspectives on complex health care concepts as we teach critical thinking to this next generation of students."

The updated statement issued Friday provided more details.

The slide in question was part of a 40-minute session that was presented to 31 Doctor of Nursing Practice students as part of a class about complex issues nurse practitioners face in clinical practice, for the purpose of "encouraging discussion, analysis and evaluation," the UA statement from Friday said.

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University officials say such seminars are intended to teach students to think critically, a skill that will help them to be effective health care providers.

"The sessions are designed to give students the opportunity to engage with professionals on a wide variety of topics they may encounter in the field," the statement said. "The College of Nursing faculty members share evidence-based information, but do not recommend any specific practice guidelines related to gender-related issues. Students are taught that providers need to choose their own approach to such issues."

Medical experts' opinions on gender identity and young children

The Mayo Clinic on its website says that most children between ages 18 and 24 months can recognize and label gender groups and that most also label their own gender by the time they reach age 3.

A pediatrician's guide to an LGBTQ+ friendly practice posted on the American Academy of Pediatrics' website includes in its list of best practices that pediatricians speak with prepubescent children using language and concepts attuned to the child's developmental abilities and experience. An example of that is saying, "Do you feel like a boy, girl or neither?" the guide said.

The well-known UCSF Child and Adolescent Gender Center in San Francisco says on its website that it accepts new patients ages 3 through 17, but that before the onset of puberty, care focuses strictly on social and emotional development.

An article published in April in the BJPsych Bulletin, a journal owned by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, said, "The great majority of young children develop a self-perceived gender identity consonant with their gender assigned at birth, but some, from the age of 3 or 4 years, develop a self-perceived gender identity which is other than that assigned at birth.

"Life for children who are transgender from their early years can be challenging. At home, they have to try to communicate how they feel to potentially skeptical parents. At school, they are likely to experience disbelief, mockery and bullying."

Many children who show gender dysphoria before puberty do not continue to do so during and after puberty, according to the article, but "if gender dysphoria does persist into adolescence, its intensity tends to increase at this time."

Reach health care reporter Stephanie Innes at Stephanie.Innes@gannett.com or at 602-444-8369. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter @stephanieinnes.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona officials respond to viral post about gender identity in kids