Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine (SEGM)

Background

The Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) was formed in 2020 to confront the lack of evidence for prevailing medicalized highly invasive treatments for gender dysphoria in youths. Since its founding the group has garnered a large profile, with mentions in major media such as the New York Times and aspersions from left-of-center groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center. ¹

SEGM was the only entity to file a neutral amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court Case U.S. v Skrmetti, which concerned a Tennessee law that prohibited hormones and puberty blockers as treatment for youth gender dysphoria. The brief argued that there was little evidence supporting current practices and that there was a need for regulation by the courts on the issue. ^{3 2}

Organization Philosophy

The Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) is primarily concerned with the treatment protocols for youth with gender dysphoria. Since the late 2010s, there has been a push to treat youth afflicted with gender dysphoria with gender transition, which includes the use of cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, social transitioning, and gender-reassignment surgery. SEGM claims that these treatments have been pushed with little evidence and that what evidence does exist is of a low quality or inapplicable to the populations to which they are being applied. The group’s evaluation of the evidence broadly concludes that surgical and hormonal interventions are not supported by evidence and do not meet adequate standards of care. ¹

Activities

The Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) undertakes a variety of projects related to health care for youth with gender dysphoria. One of its main initiatives is the translation and dissemination of scientific literature from around the world concerning treatment protocols and guidance. Relatedly, SEGM also funds systemic reviews of scientific literature for publication in peer-reviewed journals, having commissioned five of these in 2024, with one published and four others in progress as of mid-2025. The group will also fund open access fees for scientific journal articles so that they can be widely disseminated. ²

SEGM also hosts international conferences aimed at both information sharing and the workshopping and development of treatment guidelines that align with the latest evidence on treating gender dysphoria. It has also released critiques of guidelines that it claims fail to adequately consider scientific evidence. ²

SEGM also filed a neutral amicus brief to present evidence on the treatment of gender dysphoria in youths with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case U.S. vs Skrmetti, which concerned a Tennessee law prohibiting the use of cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers to treat gender-dysphoric youth. It did not take a stance on the state law, but its brief argued that the prevailing treatment methods are not founded on scientific evidence and carry great risk of harm and need regulation in the United States. ^{2 3}

Gender Transition-Related Courses

In 2025, the Washington State University approved a continuing medical education (CME) course designed by the  Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) called “International Perspectives on Evidence-Based Treatment for Gender Dysphoric Youth” that “[explained] the side effects of experimental transgender medical interventions on children and Europe’s growing rejection of ‘gender-affirming care.’” ^{4 5 6}

Following the announcement, several Transgender activists and other organizations criticized the new course, citing SEGM’s profile by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which had previously “dubbed the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine an anti-LGBTQ hate group for its role in proliferating pseudoscience and transphobic policies.” ⁴ The SEGM later released a statement on the SPLC’s designation of the group, arguing “[r]ather than providing any evidence of “hate” or “pseudoscience,” the SPLC report substituted labels for argument, reframed scientific disagreement as bigotry, claimed unfounded guilt by association, and leaned on a closed loop of activist sources that cite one another to simulate corroboration. ⁷

On October 29, journalist Erin Reed published a report about the controversy on her Substack account, also citing the SPLC terminology used to describe SEGM. That same day, the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) began an investigation and later requested for the University to revoke the course. The University released a statement confirming it would suspend the course while also claiming the University’s college of medicine “acted as an accreditor through its Continuing Medical Education program…WSU did not create or provide these courses.” ^{4 5}

Finances

In 2023, the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) reported $822,161 in revenue, of which $773,296 stemmed from grants and contributions, $35,237 from program service revenue, and $13,628 from investment income. It reported $809,167 in expenses, of which it paid out $10,000 in grants, nothing in employee salaries and compensation, $46,538 in travel expenses, and $194,277 for conferences, conventions, and meetings. It ended the year with $12,994 in net revenue, and $568,933 in net assets. It did not receive any government funding. ⁸

Leadership

Roberto D’Angelo is the president and a founding board member of the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine (SEGM). He is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst based in Australia who has questioned the ethics of medicalized treatments for gender dysphoria, instead advocating a psychotherapeutic approach to treatment. ¹