Author of Finnish study on trans youth has ties with anti-trans 'medical' group SEGM & history of anti-trans activism

The credibility of a controversial Finnish study on trans youth by Riittakerttu Kaltiala (seen here speaking at a 2023 conference held by anti-trans 'medical' group SEGM) is being called into question due to her ties with SEGM and history of anti-trans activism.

In my last post, I wrote about a Finnish study which anti-trans "medical" group SEGM claimed proves that gender-affirming care does not improve mental health of trans youth. 

Two things about it:

1. One of the sources I cited said that in spite of its flaws and limitations, the study is useful as a political document and will be cited on numerous occasions by those who oppose gender-affirming care. Unfortunately, this is true. SEGM's tweet has already reached over one million hits.

2. This is important. Apparently, the study has a conflict of interest. 

According to trans activist and substacker Erin Reed:

The study, published in the low-impact journal Acta Paediatrica, comes from Riittakerttu Kaltiala, a Finnish psychiatrist with extensive ties to at least one anti-LGBTQ+ hate group and a history of anti-trans political advocacy. The study uses Finnish registries and psychiatric visit data to support these conclusions. However, a closer examination reveals the study to be fatally flawed: it does not actually measure what it claims to measure, its headline finding is a massive artifact of surveillance bias, the clinics practices were abusive, and it operates within a system where its findings were essentially baked in from the start—regardless of what the actual mental health impacts of gender-affirming care might be.

The anti-trans hate group Kaltiala is connected to is SEGM - the same group which praised her study. 

In a piece Reed wrote in June 2024:

Importantly, members and associates of the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) have recently played a significant role in the Cass Review, a supposedly “independent” review now being cited to crack down on transgender care in England and the United States. Recent investigations revealed that multiple SEGM members and associates were part of advisory groups to the review with secret memberships. One such person was Dr. Riittakerttu Kaltiala, a Finnish psychologist who prominently presented at the latest SEGM conference and has been closely associated with SEGM, which denies her membership due to the organization having “no official members.” Dr. Kaltiala facilitated a meeting between Dr. Cass and Dr. Patrick Hunter, a DeSantis medical board pick and member of Genspect. Dr. Cass later shared information with the team according a letter obtained exclusively by this publication. Dr. Kaltiala went on to “meet regularly” with the DeSantis appointees and even testified in favor of Florida’s ban on transgender care.

I've seen numerous tweets and articles (mostly in right-wing publications) praising the study, but none of them mentioned Kaltiala's connection with SEGM or her anti-trans activism. Some may argue that Kaltiala's personal bias and connections aren't a big deal. I'm guessing they will then push a "whataboutism" narrative.

 Regardless, there should have been some effort by SEGM and others promoting her study to be more forthcoming as to who she is because a serious conflict of interest does exist. Them not being forthcoming raises questions about the study's credibility.

Especially considering how a scenario not unlike this one played out over a decade ago.

This situation involving SEGM,  Kaltiala, and her study on trans youth is somewhat eerily similar to a situation in 2012 when Mark Regnerus, a University of Texas professor, published a study which claimed that children in same-sex households face numerous problems. It was later discovered that study was funded by conservative group at the amount of $695,000.  Other conservative and anti-LGBTQ groups tried to pass it off as objective and accurate in spite of the errors in its conclusion and methodology.

Related posts:

Fact Check: New Finnish "Study" Does Not Prove "Trans Youth Care Leads To Worse Outcomes" 

 Unfin(n)ished Business: What the Finnish Registry Study Can and Cannot Tell Us About Mental Health in Gender-Dysphoric Youth

Anti-transgender 'medical group' SEGM faces criticism for its interpretation of Finland study

SEGM, an anti-trans 'medical group,' got pushback after it implied that a Finland study refutes the belief that gender-affirming therapy helps trans youth.

Those who have followed this blog over the years (it will be 20 this September) know that a feature is me calling out the religious right and the anti-LGBTQ industry when they create junk science and distort legitimate studies to demonize LGBTQ people. It's been a while since I've done this, so I think today is a good time to throw one out with the help of people more knowledgeable on this particular subject that I am. 

First, a little background.

The Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM)  is an organization which claims to "promote safe, compassionate, ethical and evidence-informed healthcare for children, adolescents, and young adults with gender dysphoria."

However, its critics claim that the group pushes anti-transgender misinformation under the veneer of legitimate science. In 2024, the Southern Poverty Law Center designated SEGM as an anti-LGBTQ hate group.  The year before, SPLC issued an extensive report on how SEGM works with other anti-LGBTQ groups in legitimizing bigotry as science: 

 The report, Combating Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience Through Accessible Informative Narratives, also known as Project CAPTAIN, unpacks the proliferation of biased and misleading information used — under the guise of science — in state and federal legislation and litigation over the last decade and exposes the far right and far-reaching network behind it. 

 Researchers from the SPLC’s Intelligence Project identify a network of over 60 groups, including Alliance Defending Freedom, the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine and Genspect, with nearly 1,000 shared connections that have mobilized their efforts to challenge the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) standards, advance the so-called “Women’s Bill of Rights” and recruit for Project 2025. Project CAPTAIN lists the 100 commonly cited sources used by anti-LGBTQ+ actors to make junk science claims, including research papers and letters to the editor, that attack the scientific consensus of gender-affirming care, defend conversion therapy and generate moral panic over trans people. 

 “We show how this network of anti-LGBTQ+ actors have built a political and PR machine that twists data and opinion from a very small minority of the medical community and positions it as mainstream,” said R.G. Cravens, senior research analyst for SPLC’s Intelligence Project. 

 In 2021, The Trans Safety Network published an extensive report on SEGM's ties to other anti-LGBTQ groups, its campaigning against trans health funding, and questions about its funding. 

All of this background leads to a recent tweet SEGM sent out trumpeting the "results" of a Finland study on gender-affirming care for kids:

 

Finland’s data are critical in the current debates on pediatric gender medicine. To our knowledge, Finland is the only country reporting full registry data, meaning outcomes are captured for all patients. By contrast, Dutch follow-up studies rely on later volunteers, with dropout…

— SEGM (@segm_ebm) April 4, 2026

This claim was retweeted by many of SEGM's supporters, i.e. folks who want to ban gender-affirming therapy for trans kids (and probably trans adults.) However, there was some pushback calling out how SEGM interpreted the study.

 

pic.twitter.com/9OVeYapzx6

— LGBwiththeT (@LGBwiththeT) April 6, 2026

Dr. Laura Targownik sent out a series of tweets analyzing the study and SEGM's claim. Targownik has been called "a prominent leader in advocating for gender equity and transgender health rights within the medical profession."

The following are a few excerpts.

 

THERE IS A LOT IT DOESN'T TELL US!

1) In the patients who received gender interventions, we don't know if the increased use of psych services occurred after, during, or following the intervention, and for how long

2) we don't know if the psych visits were for management of…

— 👩‍⚕️ Dr. Laura 👩‍⚕️ (@datadriven_tdoc) April 5, 2026

Also,

MOST IMPORTANTLY, THERE IS LITTLE IN THE DATA TO SUPPORT SEGMs ASSERTIONS ABOUT PSYCH "SYMPTOMS" WORSENING AFTER TREATMENT

this study assessed psych service utilization, and did not measure symptoms

there is no way to assess mental or overall well being/quality-of-life, given…

— 👩‍⚕️ Dr. Laura 👩‍⚕️ (@datadriven_tdoc) April 5, 2026

Finally, and perhaps more importantly,

ZOMBIE STUDIES NEVER DIE!!!

The trans care evidence base is littered with what I call "zombie literature": severely methodologically flawed or limited studies that get repeatedly cited by supporters of a particular theory of a case as "proof" of a preferred outcome, and which… pic.twitter.com/HPxj3ik6c5

— 👩‍⚕️ Dr. Laura 👩‍⚕️ (@datadriven_tdoc) April 5, 2026

Not unlike other anti-LGBTQ groups masquerading as legitimate medical organizations, SEGM seems to be more interested in creating a narrative instead of genuine scientific research.

'Kristi Noem receiving brutal reminders of her anti-LGBTQ history in light of husband's crossdressing scandal' & other Wed/Thur news briefs

25 hilarious reactions to Kristi Noem's hypocrisy after husband's cross-dressing fetish leaks: 

Noem has also built a career on supporting policies restricting LGBTQ+ rights, and while governor of South Dakota, she signed the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act," which would have granted the state "a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people," HRC reported. She also approved a ban on transgender girls participating in women's sports, and supported gender affirming care restrictions. 

 Gay D.C. staffer Josh Sorbe, who attended the University of South Dakota, summed up Noem’s hypocrisy perfectly in an Instagram Reel he posted yesterday after the cross-dressing news broke. 

 "They will do horrible things to queer people in public," he said in the video. "They will ban their books, they will ban their healthcare, they will ban their expression, they will ban their drag shows, and then turn around and queen out and do gay sh*t behind the scenes all the time. That’s where I draw the line. Be whoever the hell you want to be because your business is your business, but the second that your business involves insecurity or hypocrisy and you decide to make that my business — no, no, no."

Ken Paxton told therapists to stop affirming trans patients. Here’s why they shouldn’t listen: 

 But here’s the wrench in Paxton’s nefarious threat: His opinion – even when issued with an official seal – doesn’t actually change the law. “People are taking this opinion as fact, as Ken Paxton altering the law or reinterpreting the law to suit his whims,” Naveen Farrani, strategic Communications Manager for Equality Texas, told LGBTQ Nation. “He does not have the jurisdiction to do that.” 

These 10 out LGBTQ women made history as firsts in sports: 

 “Pioneer” is a term often thrown around loosely, but these nine out LGBTQ women in sports exemplify the term. Each of them has done something no publicly out gay, lesbian, bi or trans athlete had done before them. Some like Billie Jean King are household names, while others are lesser-known but no less important. We celebrate the women who have led the way out of the closet in sports.

Colo. activists condemn SCOTUS conversion therapy ruling: 

 The Supreme Court ruled in Chiles v. Salazar that a Colorado law banning conversion therapy is unconstitutional, striking down the state’s 2019 statute and potentially impacting similar laws across the country. Religious advocates have hailed Tuesday’s decision as a victory for the First Amendment and evangelical Christians, while LGBTQ activists warn it could lead to increased harm for LGBTQ youth. The conservative majority, joined by two progressive members of the court, sided 8–1 with Kaley Chiles on March 31 in what some critics are calling a landmark ruling for religious zealots, placing the teachings of the Bible above established medical consensus.

How in the world was the Supreme Court’s awful conversion therapy ruling 8–1?: 

More likely, the conservative justices have a unique hostility toward pro-LGBTQ+ protections and concoct bespoke reasons to strike them down—rules that are not applied to laws that these justices favor. We saw this move in 2023’s 303 Creative v. Elenis, which undermined another Colorado law protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in the marketplace without fully dismantling all civil rights law. And we could see it again in Chiles. This time around, Kagan and Sotomayor may have sought to mitigate the damage rather than take a loss on the chin. But Jackson’s pessimism gives us every reason to fear that her colleagues have crafted a doctrine that lets them impose their own orthodoxy in the name of free expression. 

The ugly history behind the Olympics’ new gender test: 

 How Nazi-era fears about gender gave rise to sex testing—and why the policy is resurfacing now.

'Leader of national Republican group says gay men take over gyms to spread AIDS' & other Mon/Tues news briefs

Kai Schwemmer

Leader of national GOP organization says gay men take over gyms to spread AIDS:

The College Republicans of America (CRA) — an organization for young conservatives that has over 280 chapters on campuses nationwide, as well as had numerous recent scandals involving bigoted statements from its leadership — appointed right-wing broadcaster Kai Schwemmer as its new political director on March 5. However, Schwemmer has ties to white supremacist Nick Fuentes, and a recent review of Schwemmer’s past videos reportedly revealed his homophobic, antisemitic, and racist comments, including a claim that gay men are trying to give people AIDS by taking over gyms. The CRA has refused to apologize for hiring Schwemmer and said it will not bow down to the “woke mob” that has expressed concern over his views.

 According to The Guardian, also:

 Schwemmer said he would accept a world in which slavery was legal if abortion was criminalized, describes himself as “very much an anti-universal suffrage guy” and accepts a supporter’s description of him as “our Mormon Nick Fuentes” – referring to the white nationalist influencer whose platform he streamed on for years. The comments were made after Schwemmer’s return from a two-year Mormon mission to Argentina; a period he recently claimed had seen him undergo a “process of growth” that led him to abandon previous racist beliefs. Schwemmer had previously expressed extremist and bigoted views.

Trump DOJ sues Minnesota over its trans-inclusive school sports policies: 

 Keith Ellison, the attorney general for Minnesota, said, “Donald Trump is currently facing an unpopular war that he launched, rising gas prices, massive health insurance price hikes, and a partial government shutdown caused in part by his ICE agents killing two Minnesotans in broad daylight. It is astonishing that any president would try to target, shame, and harass children just trying to be themselves, let alone a president with so many actual problems to address.” 

 And speaking of Trump and the trans community:

‘Transgender MUTILIZATION’: Donald Trump just making up words in bizarre, unfocused late-night rants - Trump keeps claiming that Democrats want to engage in "mutilization" of kids. He's repeating the false narrative about trans kids and surgery but keeps repeating "mulitization," a word he apparently made up. From what I hear, he means to say "mutlilation" but his people are too chickenshit to correct him.

Chicago Bulls cut Jaden Ivey after anti-gay social media posts, reports say - If you're going to be a homophobic athlete, you had better produce in what you are being paid for on the court, field, etc. The end. 

State bans against conversion therapy are ineffective, argues leading LGBTQ+ activist - From my friend and a hell of an activist, Wayne Besen.

Visual reminder - homophobia and transphobia are two heads on the same beast

I have a visual reminder for everyone, particularly the relatively small number but nonetheless extremely annoying and ignorant LGB people in my community. 

Remember when these notions were openly expressed about gays:

There has been a small shift:

This not to say that lies about LGB people have gone away. But there have been some "incorporations." They have gone from this:

To this:

 Some folks have expressed the stupid belief that this new wave coming against us is the fault of the trans community. The people and groups who spew the vile tropes which I've just featured seek to eliminate equality, as well as the right to self-determination, and safety from all of us. Not just the trans community. 

Think of homophobia and transphobia as two heads on the same beast. And this beast has always hit at us from a perceived weak angle.  Once it was those of us who wanted to marry.  Today it's the trans community. Who knows which part of our community will be the next victim of its undeserved attention. 

We should have sense enough as a community to not open our doors and invite the beast in.  And we definitely should have sense to know that allowing the beast to feed on a portion of our community won't satisfy it. 

It wants all of us.

 

Hat tip to Comics with Problems for some of the images in this post.

'Ohio GOP's drag ban cosponsor was accused of sexual conduct with a minor' & other Mon/Tue news briefs

Ohio state rep Rodney Creech

Ohio GOP's drag ban cosponsor was accused of sexual misconduct with minor relative:

 (State Rep. Rodney) Creech was accused in 2023 by a minor female relative of climbing into bed with her while erect and wearing only his underwear, according to Bureau of Criminal Investigation documents obtained by the Statehouse News Bureau. Text messages showed the minor complaining that Creech had been rubbing her legs and grabbing her waist, according to NBC4. Creech admitted to investigators he had gotten into bed with the minor in his underwear but denied the sexual nature of the allegations. 

 Clark County Prosecutor Daniel Driscoll, brought in as a special prosecutor, declined to file charges but wrote that Creech’s “behavior during the time of the investigation was concerning and suspicious,” according to documents reported by the Dayton Daily News. Creech has called the allegations “demonstrably false.” 

 The allegations were initially brought to the Preble County Sheriff’s Department in July 2023, but no investigation was opened. Both the sheriff and then-Prosecutor Martin Votel — personal friends of Creech — later recused themselves. Five months after Votel was credited by the sheriff with turning away the allegations, Creech donated $4,100 to Votel’s judicial campaign — accounting for roughly 75% of Votel’s total fundraising, according to the Dayton Daily News. Votel, now a Preble County Common Pleas Court judge, denied any impropriety. 

 Tennessee librarian risks job after refusing to move LGBTQ+ children’s books: 

 Luanne James, director of the Rutherford County Library System in Tennessee, has garnered national support after refusing to move more than 190 LGBTQ+-themed books out of youth sections. In an 18 March letter she sent to the board, she argued that relocating the titles would amount to “viewpoint discrimination” and violate the First Amendment, writing plainly: “Therefore, I will not comply.”

Heard enough news about trans people? Believe me, so have I - Jace Woodrum, a trans man and executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina breaks it down: 

 Like most people, I’m shocked at what I’m paying at the grocery store. I’m worried about how South Carolina might change as people continue moving here. I’m concerned about the teachers who have left my kid’s school for jobs outside of education. 

But our lawmakers don’t seem to be doing anything about how expensive everything is or about rapid growth. And they don’t seem to be doing enough about the pressures facing our educators. Our legislators have only 54 days out of each year to get things done in their regular session. They seem to be spending a lot of time on proposals that harm a small population instead of using that time to help the everyday South Carolinians who sent them there. 

Trans Ohioans create a safe space to teach other trans people how to shoot guns and handle firearms safely - I fully support this. In this climate, it is vital that trans Americans learn to defend themselves: 

Some have never shot a firearm before, but felt safe enough to do it with the help of Fifi and Bella, two trans people of color. (The Buckeye Flame has omitted surnames and changed some first names upon request due to safety concerns.) Fifi was inspired to host the class after they moved back home to Ohio in 2022. They had been living in Portland, Oregon and was shocked by the amount of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation moving through the Republican-controlled Ohio Statehouse. Range goers cited the legislation as key to their decision to own a gun and to learn how to shoot.

MAGA Christian Nationalist pastor: We are going to impose our (morality) on America. If you don't like it, I'm sorry

Why do white conservative evangelicals support Donald Trump even though he is the antithesis of everything they claim to oppose? Because he gives them power. With him in office, they are feeling incredibly sure of themselves, as this seen this item below. While people's heads are turned and distracted by Trump's various mad exploits (the Iran War, the attacks on DEI, etc.) and unprecedented attacks on the transgender community, MAGA pastors such William Wolfe are plotting to impose their religious will on the country. 

 

 From Right Wing Watch: 

 On Saturday, former Trump administration official and radical Christian nationalist William Wolfe delivered a speech at Bethel Church in Petersburg, West Virginia, entitled "Five Popular Lies About Faith & Politics." Wolfe, who now runs the Center For Baptist Leadership and has become an increasingly fanatical anti-immigrant activist, openly admitted that the goal of Christian nationalists is to gain political power and impose their morality upon everyone else.

 "We should not blink, we should not hesitate to tell people—not because we are so wise, not because we made the rules of the world; we didn't—we humbly submit to how God made the rules of the world, and we say, 'This is how we should order our lives together,'" Wolfe said.

"And frankly, yes, we are going to impose it upon you. If you don't like it, I'm sorry, but this is good and right and just if it lines up with God's standards and I am going to enforce my morality on you inasmuch as our morality is God's morality." 

 "You should always check yourselves," Wolfe continued. "Do I believe what God believes? Am I defending what God says is good? And if it is, then you should have the courage to say, 'This is how we're going to run our town, this is how we're going to run our county, this is how we're going to run our state, and this is how we should run the United States of America by legislating the morality that we can find in the Bible.'"