All posts by AJ Eckert

Dr. AJ Eckert, D.O. (they/he) is the Medical Director of Anchor Health’s Gender & Life-Affirming Medicine (GLAM) Program and Assistant Clinical Professor of Family Medicine at Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University. Dr. Eckert has been involved in LGBTQ health care for over sixteen years, with nine years of experience as a provider of primary and preventative care and gender-affirming services, including hormone treatment and puberty blockers. Outside of their clinical work with patients, Dr. Eckert is active in education and advocacy and a classically trained concert pianist.

John Maddox Prize

When a “gender critical” is a runner-up for the Maddox Prize for standing up for science…

Helen Joyce, a virulently anti-trans "gender critical" campaigner, was recently shortlisted for the Maddox Prize, which purports to recognize people who "who stand up for science and evidence, advancing public discussion around difficult topics despite challenges or hostility," even though she promotes an agenda that denies science and demonizes trans people. How could this have happened?

/ December 17, 2023

Detransition, Retransition, and What Everyone Gets Wrong

A article published in The Atlantic implored people to take detransitioners seriously but did so by perpetuating non-evidence-based tropes that harm both detransitioners and transgender people

NY puberty blocker article

What the New York Times gets wrong about puberty blockers for transgender youth

The New York Times recently published an article expressing grave concern about the use of puberty blockers to treat gender dysphoria in transgender adolescents. Unfortunately, the reporting ignored evidence and important context to weave a narrative portraying puberty blockers as far more risky than they actually are.

, / December 4, 2022

Cutting through the Lies and Misinterpretations about the Updated Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People

The new WPATH standards of care have sparked controversy and intensified debates around gender-affirming care for trans children and adolescents.

, / October 22, 2022
Matt Walsh asks: What is a woman?

In What Is a Woman?, Matt Walsh asks a question, but doesn’t like the answers

Matt Walsh's documentary asks What Is a Woman? Unfortunately, his documentary is every bit as much of a science denying propaganda film disguised as a documentary as antivax films like VAXXED or the anti-evolution film Expelled!, and such films tend to be potent messaging tools.

, / July 14, 2022

Gender-Affirming Care is Not Experimental, Part II

A lot of the "facts" about providing healthcare to transgender youth turn out to be not actually facts. We present here a summary of the evidence relating to transition-related health care for transgender adolescents.

Gender-affirming care is not “experimental”

Gender-affirming care remains the evidence-based standard of care for gender dysphoria in transgender adolescents, despite claims by some laws and lawmakers that it is “experimental”.

, / June 25, 2022

Conclusions Not So NICE: A Critical Analysis of the NICE Evidence review of puberty blockers for children and adolescents with gender dysphoria

A critical look at the UK's National Health Service-commissioned review of transgender youth health services and the harm it has caused.

/ October 17, 2021

About those “19 Errors,” Part Two

A critical and evidence-based response to the alleged errors journalist Jesse Singal found in my guest post reviewing Abigail Shrier's book on trans youth. The second of two parts.

/ September 5, 2021
Abigail Shrier vs. Transgender Youth

Irreversible Damage to the Trans Community: A Critical Review of Abigail Shrier’s Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters (Part Two)

Part 2 of the review of Abigail Shrier's "Irreversible Damage" provides insight into her harmful beliefs about trans youth, along with evidence-based counterarguments.

/ July 18, 2021