Fallout for speaking out

Editor's note: The following text is a transcript of a podcast story. To listen to the story, click on the arrow beneath the headline above.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, June 3rd.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: bad psychology.

About 10 years ago, child psychologist Dr. Allan Josephson began raising concerns about a sudden rise in children identifying as the opposite sex. That and the rush to respond to it with so-called gender-affirming care. When Dr. Josephson shared those views publicly, he was demoted, then dismissed from his post at the University of Louisville.

REICHARD: Now, years later, the university is paying the price. WORLD Reporter Travis Kircher has the story.

TRAVIS KIRCHER: The University of Louisville School of Medicine’s pediatrics department sits in the heart of downtown Louisville. It’s part of U of L’s effort to become a premier, nationally recognized metropolitan research university and to teach the next generation of doctors and nurses.

But in 2003, the school’s Pediatric Psychiatry and Psychology division was struggling. That’s why the school hired Dr. Allan Josephson to become its chief.

JOSEPHSON: By then, I developed a national reputation in family therapy, family work, family assistance, and they wanted someone like that, but also someone who had leadership skills. And by then…

Josephson says he was hired to put the school’s child psychology and psychiatry division on the map…In his 14 years of leadership, the division quadrupled the size of its faculty, and expanded its training, services, and national profile.. Things were changing for the better. Meanwhile, Dr. Josephson was noticing another change, this one in younger patients visiting the clinic:

JOSEPHSON: This issue kept coming up again and again and again…

Boys thought they were girls, girls thought they were boys. Josephson said this was something new.

JOSEPHSON: It wasn't always there and that's a fundamental thing to understanding this whole thing. It was virtually non existent 15 years ago. We didn't see any of these kids...then, probably about 10 years ago, it began to pop up all over the place.

The medical community began to use a new term “rapid-onset gender dysphoria.”

JOSEPHSON: Groups of girls…would show up together—that they all had it. I mean, if it weren't so serious, it would be laughable... that's why many of us strongly believe this does not have biological origins. This is psychological and social origins.

Josephson favored a therapeutic approach to treat minors and adolescents with gender dysphoria. But the medical community was rapidly embracing puberty blockers…then hormone therapy…and even, surgical treatment to mask sex characteristics.

Josephson said he saw the effects of so-called gender-affirming care as permanent, drastic, and dangerous for minors. In October 2017, he and three other pediatric specialists spoke out against the approach in a Washington forum hosted by conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation.

JOSEPHSON: Parents, children need help. And they're not getting help because of this phenomenon. And I’m not gonna use the word “abuse,” but…

Back home, that got people talking..

JOSEPHSON: And there were colleagues in the university who saw it and didn't like what I said.

Court documents show that two weeks after the forum, the director of U of L’s LGBT Center emailed the dean of the School of Medicine. He wrote that Josephson’s presentation, “raised his professional profile as someone who denies transgender identity.” The email went on to accuse Josephson of ethical violations.

Another concern was about a federal case in which Josephson had agreed to testify as an expert witness. The case involved which school bathrooms trans-identifying students should use. Josephson says his faith in Christ—and in objective science—moved him to want to testify.

JOSEPHSON: The truth is that we were made in God's image. There were made men and women, that we have a biological truth to the universe. First, and if you just try to change that, you're going against God's law.

But court records show Josephson's colleagues were complaining behind his back. An assistant professor in Josephson's own division alerted the director of an LGBT Center at the school...to let her know about Josephson's upcoming testimony. The director called the idea ugly and concerning.

Josephson said no one approached him directly.

JOSEPHSON: No one ever talked to me. I never had anyone sit down with me and said, “What is going on with your teaching? I've been hearing things.” Nobody did that.

But less than two months after the Heritage presentation, Josephson received an official letter from his boss: It demanded he resign as division chief…or be removed. Josephson offered his resignation the next day. He was demoted to what he characterizes as a junior faculty member.

JOSEPHSON: I was removed from my position of leadership, was taken away from chief of child psychiatry, which was a big deal. I was nationally known for this. I'd worked hard, gotten recognition, we’d built a division.

Dr. Jennifer Le ultimately took Josephson's place and continues to serve as the division's chief. In an email after his resignation, Le told colleagues that in her words, the bus was moving in the right direction—and they needed to figure out who wanted on...or needed to get off.

Josephson said he felt betrayed by his colleagues. At the same time, some in his office supported him–but only privately.

JOSEPHSON: I'd have people come into my office quietly, look to the side, close the door behind them, and essentially say something like this: “Doctor, you know, I really agree with you. I think your ideas are good, but I can't say it publicly. I just can't speak out.” And they're, of course, fearing their jobs…

In 2019, the school allowed Josephson’s contract to expire. Court documents show the school claimed he wasn’t fulfilling the demands of his workloads. He was without a job. He sued the School of Medicine…alleging his demotion violated his First Amendment right to freedom of speech, as well as his 14th Amendment rights to due process and equal protection. In April, the school agreed to pay him $1.6 million dollars.

Alliance Defending Freedom Attorney Tyson Langhofer represented Josephson. He says most of Josephson’s coworkers who were indignant over Josephson’s appearance at the Heritage Foundation forum never even bothered to watch it.

LANGHOFER: We asked them in depositions, what did you object to? They couldn't name it because they didn't watch his remarks. They simply knew that it didn’t align with the party line.

Both Langhofer and Josephson insist that the next generation of healthcare workers should be taught by doctors—not activists.

JOSEPHSON: Talking with a lot of young parents these days, where children are moving on, they'll say, “I'm not sure I want to send my kid to a university when they’re like that.” What do you say to that, you know?

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Travis Kircher. In Louisville, Kentucky.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.