Transgender therapy dolls developed at public university

MyGender Dolls, a line of paper dolls featuring characters with interchangeable genitals, clothing, and accessories, recently launched, with dolls available for preorder by clinicians and educators, according to the initiative’s website. The dolls are designed for children ages 4 to 10, and aim to offer a play-based therapeutic approach for transgender children, according to the MyGender website. 

The dolls are the result of a yearslong project housed at the University of Minnesota, according to web archives and social media posts. During the product testing phase of the project, researchers offered money to transgender children willing to discuss bodies and gender identity, according to a social media post. Dianne Berg, one of the co-creators of the dolls, said that the dolls made talking about gender with her therapy patients more affirming. According to an archived  2020 article in the university’s Discovery Magazine, Berg said that the dolls helped the kids “brainstorm.”

How is the public responding? The announcement sparked public backlash against the university and the state of Minnesota as a whole. Critics questioned how the project was financed, as the university is public and taxpayer-funded. Michele Tafoya, candidate for one of Minnesota's two U.S. Senate seats, called the dolls sick and demented, adding that she was livid. Other online commentators also criticized the project, describing it as pedophilic and demonic. 

Dr. Quentin van Meter, a former president of the American College of Pediatricians, a conservative doctors’ group, described the dolls as a grooming tool with no place in ethical medical care. Persuading young children that sex can be changed will lead to confusion and anxiety, van Meter said.