Despite early intervention efforts on the part of the Trump Administration [and its Department of Governmental Efficiency] to revoke, freeze, and eliminate a number of unorthodox government-sponsored experiments involving transgender hormone testing on animals, nearly 40 such federal grants – including one disbursed via the Department of Veteran’s Affairs – remain active according to the most recent data available.
Last week, among the sweeping cuts outlined as part of the administration’s efforts to increase government efficiency and tamp down government waste, included seven grants funding such animal experiments, but three programs similarly recognized and named by the White House press release remain active with almost $4 million taxpayer dollars still slated to flow into these experiments.
These programs include Duke University’s $455,000 grant allocation for the purposes of injecting mice with cross-sex hormones to study the impacts of gender-affirming estrogen therapy and how it might impact HIV vaccine response. Additionally, Harvard’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center was awarded a currently active grant just shy of $300,000 to study how testosterone therapy might support female mice induced with breast cancer. Finally, Indiana University continues to benefit from over $3.1 million in taxpayer funding for the purposes of studying how transgender hormone therapy in animals may impact their risk of asthma.