City Journal Audio Who We Are: Gender Ideology
Feb 12, 2026
Leor Sapir, a senior fellow and researcher on gender policy who led an HHS review of pediatric gender-dysphoria treatment, discusses how gender discourse and policy shifted over the past decade. He examines medicalization of school and legal fights, reviews the evidence base for youth interventions, and explores social influence, institutional dynamics, and definitional problems around gender identity.
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Policy Shift Toward Medicalized Arguments
- Leor Sapir found that legal arguments for transgender accommodations shifted from civil-rights frames to medicalized mental-health claims.
- He argues those medical claims often guided policy despite weak scientific backing and unclear motives.
Literature Often Overstated And Captured
- Sapir reports that much cited medical literature often misrepresents its own findings or overstates certainty.
- He describes this as institutional capture driven by organized, attentive committees overriding broader membership.
Vague Definitions Drive Confusion
- Key terms like "gender identity" are circularly defined or left vague, producing legal and clinical confusion.
- Sapir contends definitions often rely on stereotypes, undermining coherence in policy and law.